Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Gap Down to $154.81

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $154.81, but opened at $142.04. Applied Materials shares last traded at $147.92, with a volume of 4,945,212 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Mizuho upped their price target on Applied Materials from $162.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 21st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $140.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.52 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 24.27%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.89%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total value of $150,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,907,690.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in Applied Materials by 98,769.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 811,480,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $117,291,355,000 after buying an additional 810,659,490 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.9% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 71,782,658 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,375,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,896 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,434,684 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,720,928,000 after purchasing an additional 301,010 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 11.8% during the second quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,698,147 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,304,331,000 after purchasing an additional 3,865,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the second quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,882,645 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,018,370,000 after purchasing an additional 160,472 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It 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.