Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Here’s Why

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) were up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $183.63 and last traded at $183.58. Approximately 1,467,435 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 6,074,843 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.5 %

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 50-day simple moving average of $194.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $208.58. The firm has a market cap of $154.43 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.