American National Bank & Trust Buys 466 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

American National Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,187 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the quarter. American National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 400.0% in the third quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 65,983 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,331,000 after buying an additional 1,142 shares during the last quarter. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Greater Midwest Financial Group LLC now owns 16,904 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,989,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 24.9% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,172 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $749,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 16.7% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 15,405 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,635,000 after acquiring an additional 2,205 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $201.15 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $166.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.