Gabelli Funds LLC Acquires 33,742 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 31.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 141,413 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 33,742 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $33,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,314,095 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $310,113,000 after buying an additional 173,724 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 26,396.3% in the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 21,462 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,065,000 after acquiring an additional 21,381 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.9% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 135,559 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,991,000 after acquiring an additional 7,593 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 31.3% in the second quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 3,990 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merriman Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Merriman Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,438 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $192.16 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $198.35 and its 200 day moving average is $210.18. The company has a market cap of $159.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business 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 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective 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. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.05.

Applied Materials Company 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.