Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 187 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,043 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 1.1% of Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 144.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 4,865 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 2,875 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 2,616 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 29,350 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,930,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,242 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 89,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,056,000 after purchasing an additional 6,638 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. B. Riley reduced their price target 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. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Trading Down 9.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $17.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $168.88. The company had a trading volume of 16,287,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,137,177. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $190.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.73. The company has a market capitalization of $139.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $141.94 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

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.