Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.10 EPS

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10, Zacks reports. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $3.38 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $184.27. The stock had a trading volume of 7,876,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,209,256. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $175.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.85. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $158.96 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $149.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.00.

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.