Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Given Overweight Rating at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $250.00 price objective on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an overweight rating 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $228.90.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $200.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $194.38 and a 200-day moving average of $209.90. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,469,028,000 after buying an additional 891,446 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,226,581,000 after purchasing an additional 224,296 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,854,099 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,762,000 after purchasing an additional 116,808 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,070,167,000 after purchasing an additional 490,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,199,817,000 after buying an additional 81,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.