Citigroup Cuts Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $217.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price target trimmed by Citigroup from $240.00 to $217.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

AMAT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $232.00.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.3 %

AMAT opened at $186.14 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.38.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 4,182 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $276,000. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 63.6% in the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 4,141 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $671,000 after buying an additional 1,610 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.