Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Research Coverage Started at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $260.00 target price on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $194.32 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $202.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Applied Materials has a one year low of $109.12 and a one year high of $214.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,012,171,000 after acquiring an additional 973,218 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,434,684 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,720,928,000 after acquiring an additional 301,010 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,566,418,000 after acquiring an additional 682,098 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,226,581,000 after acquiring an additional 224,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% during 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 and hedge funds 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.