Sierra Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 1,664 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sierra Capital LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 1,664 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank raised its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $184.05. The stock had a trading volume of 2,631,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,077,886. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $195.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.11. 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 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $152.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company 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%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

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.