Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Up 4.2% – Here’s Why

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s share price rose 4.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $214.10 and last traded at $213.66. Approximately 677,644 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 5,983,371 shares. The stock had previously closed at $205.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Citigroup lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $195.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.72. The company has a market cap of $158.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors 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 yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 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.