Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Releases Q4 Earnings Guidance

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $2.00-2.36 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $2.14. The company issued revenue guidance of $6.53-7.33 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $6.92 billion.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT traded up $10.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $211.88. 6,824,097 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,934,643. The company has a market cap of $175.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $222.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $209.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AMAT. Mizuho upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays raised Applied Materials from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and upped their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $225.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.