Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) was upgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm currently has a $195.00 target price on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 32.04% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on AMAT. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Edward Jones raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.67.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $147.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $145.37 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $119.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.14.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to purchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 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.