Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Down 2.9%

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 2.9% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $202.86 and last traded at $203.31. Approximately 840,250 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 6,123,910 shares. The stock had previously closed at $209.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Down 4.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $166.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.59. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $201.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $930,505,000. Cowa LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $76,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 79,147.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,726,422 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $557,639,000 after acquiring an additional 5,719,196 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $352,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121,912 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 25.1% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 9,609,330 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,388,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925,722 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.