Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $222.05.

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Mizuho cut their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $174.55 on Tuesday. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $144.57 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $143.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $189.57 and a 200-day moving average of $205.49.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $773,611,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 341.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209,218 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 67.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,153 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $280,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,937 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.