Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $195.00. The stock had previously closed at $184.27, but opened at $174.84. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Materials shares last traded at $174.20, with a volume of 2,941,577 shares traded.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on AMAT. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 592.9% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 8.2 %

The company has a market cap of $137.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.86 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. The business has a fifty day moving average of $175.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.84.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

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.