Cornerstone Advisors LLC Has $10.45 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,700 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,600 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $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. 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. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.7 %

AMAT stock opened at $170.49 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $144.57 and a one year high of $255.89. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $190.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.19.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. B. Riley dropped 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.81.

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.