Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 42,877 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,324 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its position in Applied Materials by 47.0% in the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,722,000 after acquiring an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 15,183 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 252.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 4,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 3,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 52,639 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $10,636,000 after purchasing an additional 11,165 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.05.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $174.88 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $189.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $205.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market capitalization of $144.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.