Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $270.00 to $250.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 36.77% from the company’s previous close.

AMAT has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.24.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.0 %

AMAT stock opened at $182.79 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials has a twelve month low of $141.94 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $150.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $190.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 397.1% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 580,917 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $117,374,000 after acquiring an additional 464,061 shares during the period. Soros Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 833.7% in the third quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 82,138 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,596,000 after purchasing an additional 73,341 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 14.1% in the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,702 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,364,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 7,132 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,441,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 61,905 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,508,000 after buying an additional 16,137 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.