North Growth Management Ltd. Acquires 1,000 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

North Growth Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 164,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up approximately 6.2% of North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $33,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JT Stratford LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,246,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the second quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.19.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $188.56 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $155.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.56. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.42. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.94 and a 1-year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during 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%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 17.98%.

Applied Materials Company 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.