Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Up 3.9% Following Analyst Upgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) traded up 3.9% during trading on Tuesday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $220.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as high as $178.08 and last traded at $178.67. 1,411,254 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 6,982,822 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.96.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on AMAT. Bank of America decreased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, June 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $200.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares in the company, valued at $235,614,763.40. This trade represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5,325.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Disciplina Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 91.5% during the 1st quarter. Disciplina Capital Management LLC now owns 272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $143.13 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $159.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $162.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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