Commerce Bank Grows Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Commerce Bank boosted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 52,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,838 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% in the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. B. Riley reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. 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 report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $170.49 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $140.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s fifty day moving average is $190.26 and its 200-day moving average is $206.19. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.57 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.