Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 8,500 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 8,500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,006,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 96.6% during the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $204.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.95. The company has a market cap of $169.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.05.

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.