Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $240.00 to $225.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 33.23% from the company’s current price.

AMAT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $168.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $139.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $141.94 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $190.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.73.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JT Stratford LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% in the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during 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.