Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) PT Lowered to $280.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective cut by B. Riley from $300.00 to $280.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Applied Materials’ Q4 2024 earnings at $2.18 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $8.51 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.18 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.37 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.57 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.73 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $9.85 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $10.43 EPS.

AMAT has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James increased their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $225.56.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.9 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $207.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $172.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $222.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $209.40. Applied Materials has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 76,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.