Applied Materials’ (AMAT) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $195.00 price objective on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

AMAT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.48.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $165.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.24. The company has a market cap of $134.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JGP Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 66.4% during the fourth quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 2,651 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,641,000. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,874,000. 80.56% of the stock is 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.