Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Planning Directions Inc.

Planning Directions Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,023 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Planning Directions Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JT Stratford LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings 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 last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its stake 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 valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP grew its position 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 worth $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.81.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $168.88 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $139.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. 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 12 month low of $141.94 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $190.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.71% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio 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.