Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and seventeen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $129.33.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 18th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $800,118.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 98,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,548,110.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Applied Materials news, Director Xun Chen sold 377 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.80, for a total transaction of $40,640.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 39,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,297,770.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $800,118.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 98,332 shares in the company, valued at $11,548,110.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Disciplined Investments LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 53.2% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 337 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 372 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Emfo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 256.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. 75.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.3 %

AMAT opened at $114.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.61. Applied Materials has a 1-year low of $71.12 and a 1-year high of $142.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $112.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.93.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.66 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.57% and a return on equity of 55.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 13.94%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. It operates through the following segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display & Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment includes semiconductor capital equipment for etch, rapid thermal processing, deposition, chemical mechanical planarization, metrology and inspection, wafer packaging, and ion implantation.