Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading 2.7% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) shares shot up 2.7% during mid-day 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. 1,736,582 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 7,403,228 shares. The stock had previously closed at $190.78.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on AMAT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $158.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Bank of America lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" 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 on the stock. in a research report on Monday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was 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 approximately $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 972.2% in the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5,325.0% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplina Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 91.5% during the first quarter. Disciplina Capital Management LLC now owns 272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $158.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $171.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.77.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.