Q3 2023 EPS Estimates for Applied Materials, Inc. Raised by B. Riley (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) – Equities research analysts at B. Riley increased their Q3 2023 EPS estimates for shares of Applied Materials in a research note issued on Friday, May 19th. B. Riley analyst C. Ellis now forecasts that the manufacturing equipment provider will post earnings per share of $1.74 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $1.61. B. Riley currently has a “Buy” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Applied Materials’ current full-year earnings is $7.15 per share. B. Riley also issued estimates for Applied Materials’ Q4 2023 earnings at $1.61 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $7.38 EPS, Q1 2024 earnings at $1.58 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $1.82 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $2.00 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $2.21 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $7.62 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $9.11 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $279.00 to $271.00 in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $136.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Craig Hallum raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $126.00 to $139.00 in a report on Friday, February 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $125.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.96.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.3 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $126.95 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $107.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $117.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.48. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $71.12 and a 52 week high of $132.06.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 18th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $6.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.37 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 54.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.85 EPS.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. S. R. Schill & Associates acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Balentine LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 13,916 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,355,000 after buying an additional 825 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,626 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. Veriti Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Veriti Management LLC now owns 13,887 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,352,000 after buying an additional 654 shares during the period. Finally, CFO4Life Group LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 7,651 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $745,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. 75.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 29,444 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total value of $3,671,666.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 194,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,228,960.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Omkaram Nalamasu sold 29,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total transaction of $3,671,666.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 194,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,228,960.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 6,813 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $800,118.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 98,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,548,110.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 25th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 24th. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 13.72%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Applied Materials

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Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. It operates through the following segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display & Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment includes semiconductor capital equipment for etch, rapid thermal processing, deposition, chemical mechanical planarization, metrology and inspection, wafer packaging, and ion implantation.