Beaton Management Co. Inc. Makes New $212,000 Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Beaton Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 900 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 96.6% during the 1st quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 5.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $196.71 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.87 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.28.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.00.

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.