Susquehanna Lowers Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $190.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Susquehanna from $215.00 to $190.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Susquehanna’s price objective points to a potential downside of 7.34% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $205.06 on Friday. Applied Materials has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $194.94 and a 200 day moving average of $209.76. The firm has a market cap of $169.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth approximately $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $352,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121,912 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $464,974,000 after buying an additional 1,259,111 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,012,171,000 after buying an additional 973,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $162,873,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by 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.