Conning Inc. Purchases 4,801 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 18.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,900 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,801 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% during the first 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 last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.4% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,070,167,000 after purchasing an additional 490,597 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,199,817,000 after purchasing an additional 81,151 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,061,739 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,194,520,000 after buying an additional 438,691 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after buying an additional 108,827 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $183.38 on Friday. 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 $136.67 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $191.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. B. Riley dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.