Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $220.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $235.00 to $220.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 30.27% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Mizuho cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Down 9.2 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $168.88 on Friday. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $141.94 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $139.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

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

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,994,968,000 after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares in the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.3% during the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,311 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Savoie Capital LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 13.5% during the third quarter. Savoie Capital LLC now owns 87,695 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,719,000 after buying an additional 10,400 shares in the last quarter. Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $374,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 106.5% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 690,160 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $139,447,000 after acquiring an additional 355,926 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Applied Materials

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.