Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Smith Group Asset Management LLC

Smith Group Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 89.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,988 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 5.7% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,338 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 17.3% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 23,949 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,939,000 after acquiring an additional 3,529 shares during the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $3,069,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 218.9% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 825,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $170,182,000 after purchasing an additional 566,516 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $185.34 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $153.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $193.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $208.21.

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. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors 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 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

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.