Claro Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,324 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $874,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at $794,000. Concord Asset Management LLC VA lifted its position in Applied Materials by 16.1% during the third quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 11,404 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares in the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 19.0% during the third quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 98,484 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,899,000 after purchasing an additional 15,755 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 0.7% during the third quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,043 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,464,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Cayman LP lifted its position in Applied Materials by 144.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 4,865 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 2,875 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Mizuho decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Trading Down 9.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $168.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.61, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $190.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.94 and a 1-year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.71% and a net margin of 26.41%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

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.