Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target Raised to $220.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has raised their price target for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) from $210.00 to $220.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.87%.
• Despite the positive outlook from JPMorgan, other analysts have varying assessments, with one firm setting a price target as low as $150.00 and others providing "overweight" or "hold" ratings.
• Applied Materials reported a 24.06% net margin and 7.7% year-over-year revenue growth, with earnings per share of $2.48, surpassing consensus estimates.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $210.00 to $220.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the manufacturing equipment provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target indicates a potential upside of 34.53% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on AMAT. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, July 7th. DZ Bank cut Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $194.84.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded up $1.77 during trading on Friday, hitting $163.53. 10,099,862 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,417,851. The company has a market capitalization of $131.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $215.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 23.88%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Shelton Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in Applied Materials by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,958 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.