Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $235.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on AMAT. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $228.90.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $201.97 on Thursday. Applied Materials has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $167.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $194.49 and its 200-day moving average is $209.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JT Stratford LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.6% during the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% during the second quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 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.