Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) PT Raised to $240.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $230.00 to $240.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 13.16% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.64.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $212.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials has a 52-week low of $120.18 and a 52-week high of $219.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $204.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.13.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 42.43% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 8.07 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,469,028,000 after acquiring an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,226,581,000 after buying an additional 224,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,322,280,000 after buying an additional 360,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,389,048,000 after acquiring an additional 456,865 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% 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. 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.