Evercore ISI Initiates Coverage on Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Equities research analysts at Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 price target on the manufacturing equipment provider's stock. Evercore ISI's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 24.12% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AMAT. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of AMAT traded up $3.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $209.48. 3,748,179 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,197,840. Applied Materials has a 52-week low of $109.00 and a 52-week high of $214.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.85. The firm has a market cap of $174.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. Applied Materials's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 9,527 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 31.2% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $22,810,000 after acquiring an additional 39,194 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.3% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $299,267,000 after purchasing an additional 6,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 9.1% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 830,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $114,919,000 after purchasing an additional 69,388 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.