Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 7,750 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 336,595 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,750 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $68,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. waypoint wealth counsel boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.1% during the third quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 1,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. jvl associates llc raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.4% during the third quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 1,362 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.1% during the third quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 3,944 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $797,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the third quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 3,435 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.5% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 168,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,079,000 after purchasing an additional 10,331 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ AMAT traded up $2.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $201.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,134,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,073,735. The company has a market capitalization of $167.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54. 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 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $209.95.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. 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. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.90.

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.