E&G Advisors LP Acquires 200 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

E&G Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,229 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RFG Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,416 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.4% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,350 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group increased its position in Applied Materials by 4.5% in the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 2,791 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $576,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 22.0% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 12,895 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,659,000 after buying an additional 2,323 shares during the period. Finally, True North Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $246,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $186.36 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.21 and a 1-year high of $255.89. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $195.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Applied Materials 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.