Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 18.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,352 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JT Stratford LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,246,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the second quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $192.03 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.40. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $141.94 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $158.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.56. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued 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. 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. 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 research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

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.