Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Acquires 778 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,730 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank boosted its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on 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, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.48.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $174.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 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. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.57 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $188.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 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. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.