Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading 1.3% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) shares were up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $195.00 to $220.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as high as $201.11 and last traded at $199.72. Approximately 1,374,008 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 7,094,749 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.10.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AMAT. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $220.00 price objective on Applied Materials and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. B. Riley decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $204.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Old Port Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.8% during the second quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 2,916 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Cove Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $1,373,000. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $266,000. True North Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 354.1% during the second quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 6,948 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 5,418 shares during the period. Finally, Vision Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 10.4% during the second quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,573 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market cap of $156.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $173.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.38.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials's payout ratio 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.