Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $170.00. The stock had previously closed at $188.24, but opened at $162.70. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a hold rating on the stock. Applied Materials shares last traded at $166.28, with a volume of 9,538,992 shares traded.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $169.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $194.84.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Skye Global Management LP purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $45,862,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the period. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $230,000. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 26,650 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,867,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Humankind Investments LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 14.1%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. 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 issued 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

About Applied Materials

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.