Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 15.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,328 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,032 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.8% in the first quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 7,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7,433.3% during the 1st quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 11,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,269,000 after buying an additional 11,150 shares during the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $1,297,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.4% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 15,703 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,238,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. B. Riley decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.05.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $174.88 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $189.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.57 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

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.