Citigroup Raises Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $220.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Citigroup from $190.00 to $220.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the manufacturing equipment provider's stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on AMAT. Mizuho cut their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday. 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. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a "mixed" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $202.65.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $4.21 during trading on Monday, reaching $194.99. 8,093,027 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,091,988. 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 has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $168.27 and a 200-day moving average of $164.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.69.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The business's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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 issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 22.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of Applied Materials 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 0.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 253,078 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602,645 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in 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 valued at $1,356,094,000 after purchasing an additional 587,036 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.