Morgan Stanley Trims Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Target Price to $185.00

by · The Cerbat Gem

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $224.00 to $185.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

AMAT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $231.05.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Applied Materials

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $192.16 on Tuesday. 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 has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.16. The firm has a market cap of $159.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm 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%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after buying an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,226,581,000 after buying an additional 224,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,322,280,000 after buying an additional 360,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,854,099 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,762,000 after purchasing an additional 116,808 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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