Wells Fargo & Company Increases Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $215.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $200.00 to $215.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the manufacturing equipment provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price points to a potential upside of 8.54% from the stock's previous close.

AMAT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.65.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $198.08. The company had a trading volume of 1,647,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,092,754. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $171.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76. Applied Materials has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $255.57. The company has a market capitalization of $158.96 billion, a PE ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.69.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials 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 transaction of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lantz Financial LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $207,000. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 45.6% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 39,031 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $7,145,000 after purchasing an additional 12,221 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,024,265 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $370,582,000 after purchasing an additional 174,312 shares in the last quarter. Bell Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bell Bank now owns 6,568 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 63.4% in the 2nd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 7,002 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 2,717 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

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.