Fisher Asset Management LLC Acquires 12,694 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,254,743 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,694 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 0.39% of Applied Materials worth $657,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.7% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 156,106 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,541,000 after purchasing an additional 8,388 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 11.3% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 8,524 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,722,000 after buying an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 11.7% in the third quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 6,309 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,190,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,815 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 90.1% during the third quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 9,277 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 4,397 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.5 %

AMAT opened at $174.88 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $144.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $144.57 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. B. Riley cut their target price 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. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.05.

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.