Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Up 0.8% – What’s Next?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) rose 0.8% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $202.07 and last traded at $201.83. Approximately 609,410 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 6,033,406 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.90.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $164.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 390,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $63,342,000 after acquiring an additional 6,022 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 12,664 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,052,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 63,499 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,291,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 10,783 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,498 shares during the period. Finally, Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 107,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,490,000 after acquiring an additional 9,906 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.