Mizuho Has Lowered Expectations for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price

Key Points

• Mizuho has lowered its price target for Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) from $220.00 to $200.00, while maintaining an "outperform" rating, indicating a potential upside of 6.25% from the current stock price.
• Other brokerages have varied responses, with UBS raising its price target to $185.00 and Goldman Sachs setting a target at $225.00, showing a mix of ratings from several analysts.
• Applied Materials recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.48 per share, surpassing expectations and reflecting a 7.7% year-over-year increase in revenue to $7.30 billion.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by Mizuho from $220.00 to $200.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the manufacturing equipment provider's stock. Mizuho's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 22.30% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AMAT. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $220.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $194.84.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock traded up $1.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $163.53. 10,099,862 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,417,851. The company has a market cap 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 company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $215.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $184.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 41.31%. The firm had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were 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 $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $1,604,002,000. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $1,409,320,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth $1,085,600,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,483,183,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $882,396,000. 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.