Susquehanna Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective trimmed by Susquehanna from $190.00 to $170.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.24.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $186.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $153.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials has a 1-year low of $141.94 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.13. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.