Summit Trail Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,657 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 777 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,807,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 778,771 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $183,782,000 after buying an additional 48,395 shares in the last quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 49.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 641,240 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $151,326,000 after buying an additional 210,740 shares in the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 410,705 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $96,923,000 after buying an additional 2,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 137,188 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $32,375,000 after buying an additional 11,535 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $192.16 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $198.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.18. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.