Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective upped by research analysts at Citigroup from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.76% from the stock’s current price.

AMAT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Edward Jones upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.48.

Applied Materials Stock Down 5.3%

AMAT opened at $165.57 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $149.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market cap of $134.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. Applied Materials has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CEO Gary E. Dickerson purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, for a total transaction of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 972.2% during the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $29,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.