Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Down 13.6% on Analyst Downgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) dropped 13.6% during mid-day trading on Friday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $170.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a hold rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as low as $162.50 and last traded at $162.72. Approximately 14,805,559 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 103% from the average daily volume of 7,279,006 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.24.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on AMAT. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $194.84.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,603,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,608,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 69.9% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 4,829 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 3,328 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Down 14.1%

The company has a market cap of $129.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $184.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 41.31%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

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.