Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $220.00 to $210.00. The stock had previously closed at $186.00, but opened at $168.34. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Materials shares last traded at $173.00, with a volume of 4,259,897 shares changing hands.

Several other research firms also recently commented on AMAT. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.81.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 7.0 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.98. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.60 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.98%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.