Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Up 1.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) were up 1.5% during trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $255.00 to $280.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as high as $246.96 and last traded at $246.53. Approximately 968,418 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 5,680,875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $242.86.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 17th. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.04.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,103.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,000 shares of company stock worth $6,598,500. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Applied Materials by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,226,581,000 after buying an additional 224,296 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,322,280,000 after purchasing an additional 360,002 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,389,048,000 after purchasing an additional 456,865 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $204.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $212.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.61.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.