Raymond James Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Raymond James in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $200.00 price target on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $225.00. Raymond James’ target price suggests a potential upside of 20.79% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.48.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $165.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $134.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $149.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.35. Applied Materials has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

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

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 972.2% in the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.