Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Short Interest Up 17.7% in August

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,190,000 shares, a growth of 17.7% from the August 15th total of 12,910,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 6,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Barclays upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. B. Riley lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.95.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock traded up $5.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $188.47. 4,851,255 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,087,090. Applied Materials has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The company has a market capitalization of $155.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50-day moving average of $204.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $210.71.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,514,814,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $352,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121,912 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 126.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,012,171,000 after purchasing an additional 973,218 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.