Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target Lowered to $250.00 at Evercore ISI

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective trimmed by Evercore ISI from $260.00 to $250.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

AMAT has been the subject of several other research reports. B. Riley reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.81.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $17.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $168.88. 16,287,484 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,137,177. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.73. The company has a market cap of $139.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $141.94 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 17.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $2,645,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 7.6% during the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its position in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 52,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $10,801,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 218.9% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 825,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $170,182,000 after acquiring an additional 566,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 11,833 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,440,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.