JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $170.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its target price upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on AMAT. Wolfe Research started coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. They set an outperform rating and a $185.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday. Craig Hallum upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $139.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, September 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $161.29.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.7 %

AMAT opened at $152.57 on Friday. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $93.68 and a 12 month high of $157.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $140.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.14. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 24.27%. The firm had revenue of $6.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total transaction of $150,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,907,690.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 98,769.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 811,480,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $117,291,355,000 after buying an additional 810,659,490 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 71,782,658 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,375,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,896 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,434,684 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,720,928,000 after purchasing an additional 301,010 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Applied Materials by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,698,147 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,304,331,000 after purchasing an additional 3,865,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its stake in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,882,645 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,018,370,000 after purchasing an additional 160,472 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It 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.