Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target Increased to $300.00 by Analysts at B. Riley

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective boosted by B. Riley from $255.00 to $300.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

AMAT has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $221.84.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $239.99 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $198.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.59, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $249.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $214.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $192.02.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total value of $554,050.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,000 shares of company stock worth $6,598,500 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JT Stratford LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 5,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,041 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, F M Investments LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 2,098 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.