Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target Lowered to $210.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price target trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $240.00 to $210.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AMAT. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $202.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.48.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $165.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $134.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $149.19 and its 200 day moving average is $165.24. Applied Materials has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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

Applied Materials announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding 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 leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 972.2% in the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.