Morgan Stanley Raises Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $224.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $223.00 to $224.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on AMAT. UBS Group lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Mizuho increased their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $225.56.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.9 %

AMAT stock opened at $207.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.40. The stock has a market cap of $172.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total transaction of $1,597,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.02, for a total value of $1,597,650.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 78,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,767,230.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.