Stock Update: Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)

[Benzinga] Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) stock has been pulling back gently over the last several sessions, possibly setting up for a nice long-side entry for those bullish of the stock. Pullbacks like this, according to the technical crowd, are a welcome and necessary evil to maintain a healthy long-term chart pattern.Stock PerformanceTaking a look at the company’s recent performance, Applied Materials reported third quarter earnings for fiscal year 2014 on august 14^th 2014. The company reported actual earnings per share of $.28 against the consensus Street estimate of $.27. This represents year over year growth of 35.71%. Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) posted revenue of $2.27 billion against estimates of $2.29 Billion. Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) is currently valued at $25.10billion and closed the last trading session at $20.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.16 and a 200-day moving average of $21.16.Is this a Buying Opportunity?There are currently twenty one analysts that we track that cover the stock. Of those twenty one, fifteen Buy rating and six have a Hold rating. On a consensus basis this yields a score of 2.81 and a buy. The combined price objective of these covering analysts is $24.51, which represents a 16.92% upside difference to the last closing price. The most recent analyst activity consisted of S&P Equity Research who Reiterated rating with strong buy stance on the company. On the day of the report, stock closed at $22.20.Another research firm weighing in recently was Argus who also reiterated rating with buy stance on the stock. On august 19^th 2014 Argus upgraded their price target on the stock from $22.10 to 25, or a13.38% upside to the current price. On the day of the report, AMAT shares closed at $22.05Company ProfileApplied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) provides manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, flat panel display, solar photovoltaic (PV), and related industries worldwide. The company’s Silicon Systems Group segment develops, manufactures, and sells a range of manufacturing equipment used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits. This segment offers systems that perform primary processes used in chip fabrication, including atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, electrochemical deposition, rapid thermal processing, ion implantation, chemical mechanical planarization, wet cleaning, and wafer metrology and inspection, as well as systems that etch or inspect circuit patterns on masks used in the photolithography process.