Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading 3.5% Higher - What's Next?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 3.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $176.88 and last traded at $176.53. 1,138,465 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 6,966,077 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.29.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.6%

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $156.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.09. The stock has a market cap of $141.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

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

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% in 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 increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 18.6% in 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 period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,356,094,000 after acquiring an additional 587,036 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

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.

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