Centaurus Financial Inc. Acquires 643 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 20.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,815 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank grew its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $174.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $143.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $189.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.49. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.05.

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.