Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) PT Raised to $275.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective increased by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $240.00 to $275.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 11.67% from the stock’s previous close.

AMAT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. B. Riley boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Raymond James increased their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.64.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $2.87 during trading on Monday, reaching $246.27. The company had a trading volume of 363,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,645,679. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $227.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.93.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,091,873.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $1,514,814,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $352,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121,912 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 123.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,976,914 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $407,699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092,429 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.