King Luther Capital Management Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,037 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,199,817,000 after buying an additional 81,151 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after buying an additional 108,827 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,839,715 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $906,134,000 after buying an additional 59,910 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.2% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,889,966 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $583,918,000 after acquiring an additional 116,084 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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, November 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.05.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $174.88 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.57 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $144.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $189.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $205.72.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

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.