Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has lowered its target price for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) from $215.00 to $205.00, yet maintains an "overweight" rating, indicating an expected upside from its current price.
• Other brokerages have varying perspectives on AMAT, with ratings ranging from "buy" to "hold," yielding an average target price of $196.84 from analysts.
• Applied Materials recently reported earnings of $2.48 per share, exceeding expectations and reflecting a 7.7% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $215.00 to $205.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the manufacturing equipment provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.90% from the stock's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AMAT. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. 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 report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $196.84.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $188.24 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $215.70. The company's 50-day moving average price is $184.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.78. The stock has a market cap of $151.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The company had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

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

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