Veracity Capital LLC Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Veracity Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,466 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $773,611,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,111 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after acquiring an additional 891,446 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth $162,873,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,623,048 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $953,411,000 after purchasing an additional 784,780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $186.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $195.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.23.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

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.