Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $200.00 to $215.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 12.70% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on AMAT. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $158.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.65.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $190.78 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $123.74 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.10 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.69. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.13.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $1,588,422,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $1,085,600,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 2,401.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,066,817 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $445,056,000 after purchasing an additional 2,944,193 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 18,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,824,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,647,430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Applied Materials by 43.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,573,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $808,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,428 shares during the last quarter. 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.