Short Interest in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Expands By 32.2%

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,590,000 shares, an increase of 32.2% from the May 15th total of 11,790,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.04.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $237.03 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $196.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $238.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $211.62 and a 200-day moving average of $189.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total transaction of $4,446,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,091,873.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, CFO Brice Hill sold 20,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.34, for a total value of $4,446,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,091,873.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.62, for a total transaction of $554,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 76,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,890,103.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $6,598,500 in the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% in the first 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 during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 682,098 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,226,581,000 after purchasing an additional 224,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,322,280,000 after purchasing an additional 360,002 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in 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 and hedge funds 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.