KeyCorp Analysts Increase Earnings Estimates for Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) – Analysts at KeyCorp upped their Q3 2023 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Applied Materials in a research report issued on Thursday, May 18th. KeyCorp analyst S. Barger now forecasts that the manufacturing equipment provider will earn $1.73 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.68. The consensus estimate for Applied Materials’ current full-year earnings is $7.15 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Applied Materials’ Q4 2023 earnings at $1.68 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $7.45 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $6.91 EPS.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 18th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.16. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 54.45% and a net margin of 24.36%. The company had revenue of $6.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis.

AMAT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $88.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Applied Materials from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $125.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Applied Materials from $118.00 to $125.00 in a report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Applied Materials from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.96.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $126.95 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $107.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.60. Applied Materials has a 1 year low of $71.12 and a 1 year high of $132.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.48.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Chelsea Counsel Co. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 12.5% in the first quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 2,799 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 55.4% in the first quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 271,087 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,298,000 after purchasing an additional 96,587 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 45.7% in the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 33,814 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,154,000 after purchasing an additional 10,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Council Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $232,000. 75.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 98,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,548,110.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Applied Materials 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 transaction of $800,118.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 98,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,548,110.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 29,444 shares of the company’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 value of $3,671,666.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 194,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,228,960.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 25th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 24th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.72%.

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.