DGS Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,671 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT traded up $0.34 on Friday, reaching $169.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,341,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,182,311. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $183.52 and a 200 day moving average of $201.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.05 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for 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%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.29.

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.