Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Gap Down to $144.57

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $144.57, but opened at $140.85. Applied Materials shares last traded at $139.71, with a volume of 1,741,550 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 19th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $185.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report on Friday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.41.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.51. The stock has a market cap of $116.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.15 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 49.29% and a net margin of 24.27%. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total transaction of $150,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 106,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,907,690.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total transaction of $150,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,907,690.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.00, for a total transaction of $1,420,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 69,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,869,568. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 98,769.9% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 811,480,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $117,291,355,000 after buying an additional 810,659,490 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $930,505,000. Cowa LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 79,147.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,726,422 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $557,639,000 after purchasing an additional 5,719,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,700,000. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It 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.