Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $197.33.

Several equities research analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 5,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,496 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 15,262 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,474,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies lifted its position in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $2.18 on Monday, hitting $205.68. 4,482,584 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,231,998. The company has a market cap of $170.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $109.00 and a 52 week high of $214.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $200.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.34.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 18.82%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.