Applied Materials’ (AMAT) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $250.00 price target on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 44.53% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Trading Down 7.0 %

AMAT traded down $13.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $172.97. 4,632,092 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,084,875. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $191.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.98. Applied Materials has a 1 year low of $141.94 and a 1 year high of $255.89. 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 has a market cap of $142.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced 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. The firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 56.0% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.