Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Down 2.9%

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) fell 2.9% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $202.86 and last traded at $203.31. 840,250 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 6,123,910 shares. The stock had previously closed at $209.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $201.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.85. The company has a market capitalization of $167.31 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $22,810,000 after purchasing an additional 39,194 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $299,267,000 after purchasing an additional 6,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 830,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $114,919,000 after purchasing an additional 69,388 shares in 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.