Susquehanna Lowers Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $112.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at Susquehanna from $125.00 to $112.00 in a research report issued on Friday, The Fly reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Susquehanna’s price target suggests a potential downside of 11.78% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Applied Materials from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. B. Riley boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Applied Materials from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Cowen reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $279.00 to $271.00 in a research note on Friday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.96.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $126.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $107.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $71.12 and a 12 month high of $132.06. The business’s 50 day moving average is $117.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 18th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 54.45% and a net margin of 24.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 7.01 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, March 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to buy up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $800,118.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 98,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,548,110.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $800,118.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 98,332 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,548,110.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 29,444 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total transaction of $3,671,666.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 194,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,228,960.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 1,666.7% during the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 212 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Steward Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 173.9% during the 1st quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 252 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 75.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Applied Materials

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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.