Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Rating Reiterated by Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $180.00 price objective on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $139.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $125.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, September 14th. They set an outperform rating and a $185.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $161.29.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $152.57 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.60. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $93.68 and a 12-month high of $157.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $128.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.14. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.27% and a return on equity of 49.29%. The business had revenue of $6.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business 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 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 16.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of Applied Materials 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,907,690.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 5.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,020,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $134,555,000 after purchasing an additional 54,261 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 92.3% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,180 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 21.7% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 8,981 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $315,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 12.6% during the first quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,215 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. 77.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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. 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.