Strategic Advisors LLC Purchases 2,051 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 201.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,069 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,051 shares during the quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.90.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $2.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $203.02. 1,659,209 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,016,776. The business has a 50 day moving average of $194.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $209.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $168.10 billion, a PE ratio of 23.57, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

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.