Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading 1.3% Higher - Should You Buy?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 1.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $175.31 and last traded at $175.07. Approximately 991,763 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 6,949,606 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a report on Friday, June 6th. B. Riley reduced their price target 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 lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.29.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $138.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The business's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 22.38%.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total transaction of $65,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at $880,131.91. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price 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 approximately $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,805,000 after acquiring an additional 2,536 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,603,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,303,000. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.