Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Down 13.6% on Analyst Downgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) traded down 13.6% on Friday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $170.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a hold rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as low as $162.50 and last traded at $162.72. 14,805,559 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 103% from the average session volume of 7,279,006 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.24.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $194.84.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Skye Global Management LP purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $45,862,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,608,000 after buying an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth $230,000. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych increased its position in Applied Materials by 12.7% during the first quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 26,650 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,867,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Humankind Investments LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 14.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.71. The company has a market cap of $129.81 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 23.88%. The company had revenue of $7.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.38%.

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.