Waterloo Capital L.P. Acquires New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Waterloo Capital L.P. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,347 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.5% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 81,088 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,136,000 after buying an additional 1,977 shares in the last quarter. XN LP raised its position in Applied Materials by 6.9% in the second quarter. XN LP now owns 556,550 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $131,340,000 after acquiring an additional 36,059 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 97,954 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $23,038,000 after acquiring an additional 8,353 shares during the last quarter. Tredje AP fonden boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 224,119 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $52,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 27,254 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $196.71 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $162.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.