Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Down 0.2% – What’s Next?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s stock price was down 0.2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $182.57 and last traded at $184.11. Approximately 1,541,575 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 6,071,538 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $195.44 and its 200-day moving average is $209.11. The firm has a market cap of $152.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $773,611,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after buying an additional 1,259,111 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after acquiring an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $162,873,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 20.4% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,623,048 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $953,411,000 after acquiring an additional 784,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.