Cantor Fitzgerald Upgrades Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) to “Overweight”

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) was upgraded by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $260.00 target price on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $220.00. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price indicates a potential upside of 23.57% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on AMAT. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.13.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $210.41 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $197.42 and its 200-day moving average is $166.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $109.00 and a 52 week high of $214.91. The company has a market capitalization of $174.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,012,171,000 after acquiring an additional 973,218 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,434,684 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,720,928,000 after purchasing an additional 301,010 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 682,098 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 224,296 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,389,048,000 after purchasing an additional 456,865 shares in 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.