Brokerages Set Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) PT at $218.71

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $218.00.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 592.9% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $184.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.85. The company has a market cap of $149.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $158.96 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 9.38 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, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

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.