Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target Lowered to $202.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its target price lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $230.00 to $202.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock opened at $171.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $148.48 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 609 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 68,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $11,168,000 after acquiring an additional 2,690 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 81,220 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,209,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892 shares during the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 97,007 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,776,000 after purchasing an additional 13,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 229.6% in the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 5,497 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 3,829 shares during the last quarter. 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.