Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,597 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,576 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew 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 in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% during 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 buying an additional 15,183 shares in the last quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc raised its position in Applied Materials by 252.0% during the third quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 4,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after buying an additional 3,389 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 26.9% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $174.88 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average is $189.83 and its 200-day moving average is $205.72. The company has a market cap of $144.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.57 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.05.

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.