Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Up 2.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 2.7% during trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $215.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as high as $195.25 and last traded at $195.93. Approximately 1,736,582 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 7,403,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $190.78.

AMAT has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. B. Riley decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday. Finally, Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $12,528,961,000 after purchasing an additional 487,358 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,260,178,000 after buying an additional 253,078 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Applied Materials by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after buying an additional 1,602,645 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,356,094,000 after acquiring an additional 587,036 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $168.27 and a 200 day moving average of $164.13. 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 company has a market cap of $156.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.69.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Applied Materials announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.