Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target Cut to $220.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price target lowered by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $235.00 to $220.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 30.27% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Down 9.2 %

AMAT stock opened at $168.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $190.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.73. Applied Materials has a 52-week low of $141.94 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares in the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,311 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,073,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Savoie Capital LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Savoie Capital LLC now owns 87,695 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $17,719,000 after acquiring an additional 10,400 shares during the last quarter. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $374,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 106.5% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 690,160 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $139,447,000 after purchasing an additional 355,926 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by 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. 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.