DZ Bank Downgrades Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) to Sell

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) was downgraded by analysts at DZ Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $150.00 target price on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. DZ Bank’s price target indicates a potential downside of 7.27% from the company’s previous close.

AMAT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 16th. B. Riley dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.84.

Applied Materials Stock Down 14.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $161.76 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $184.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46. Applied Materials has a 52-week low of $123.74 and a 52-week high of $215.70. The company has a market capitalization of $129.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 23.88% and a return on equity of 41.31%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Shelton Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% during the second quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,398 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,958 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% 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. 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.