Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC Acquires 3,194 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 34.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,535 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,194 shares during the period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,751,000. Peloton Wealth Strategists increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Peloton Wealth Strategists now owns 27,470 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,452,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,854,099 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,762,000 after purchasing an additional 116,808 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AMAT traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $205.06. The stock had a trading volume of 2,604,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,010,298. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $169.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s fifty day moving average is $194.94 and its 200 day moving average is $209.74. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

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.