Mizuho Increases Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $220.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) had its price target upped by Mizuho from $195.00 to $220.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the manufacturing equipment provider's stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on AMAT. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $158.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.74.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $193.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,332,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,128,569. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46. The stock has a market cap of $155.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.69. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $233.32. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. 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 business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $12,528,961,000 after acquiring an additional 487,358 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $3,260,178,000 after acquiring an additional 253,078 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 18.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,602,645 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% during the 4th 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.