Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $220.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $235.00 to $220.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. B. Riley decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $168.88 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $190.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. Applied Materials has a twelve month low of $141.94 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $139.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after purchasing an additional 672,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after buying an additional 371,866 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,316,269,000 after buying an additional 858,122 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 3.7% in the 3rd 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 valued at $1,790,554,000 after buying an additional 318,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. 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.