Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target Cut to $210.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its target price reduced by Bank of America from $220.00 to $210.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $168.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.88 and a 200-day moving average of $206.87. Applied Materials has a 52-week low of $141.94 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.71%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued 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 0.95%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $773,611,000. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 341.0% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $577,288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209,218 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 67.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 262.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $280,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.