Mizuho Lowers Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $210.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its target price lowered by Mizuho from $220.00 to $210.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Mizuho’s price target indicates a potential upside of 22.34% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on AMAT. Citigroup lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $171.65 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $173.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.89. Applied Materials has a twelve month low of $148.48 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $139.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,841,178,000 after buying an additional 672,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,316,269,000 after purchasing an additional 858,122 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,790,554,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.