Needham & Company LLC Lowers Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $225.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price target decreased by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $240.00 to $225.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 33.23% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group reduced 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Down 9.2 %

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

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank grew its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 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.