Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Up 3.9% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) were up 3.9% during trading on Tuesday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $220.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as high as $178.08 and last traded at $178.67. Approximately 1,411,254 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 6,982,822 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.96.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on AMAT. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 972.2% during the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 435.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 5,325.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenline Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.6%

The stock has a market cap of $146.91 billion, a PE ratio of 22.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $161.25 and its 200 day moving average is $163.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

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

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.