Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $220.00 to $210.00. The stock had previously closed at $186.00, but opened at $168.34. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Materials shares last traded at $173.00, with a volume of 4,259,897 shares.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.81.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,841,178,000 after buying an additional 672,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after acquiring an additional 371,866 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,316,269,000 after acquiring an additional 858,122 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 3.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,790,554,000 after acquiring an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 9.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $139.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $190.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.73.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

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.