Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Invests $440,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,177 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 63,499 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $10,291,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 10,783 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,748,000 after acquiring an additional 1,498 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 107,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $17,490,000 after acquiring an additional 9,906 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 12,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, Caxton Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1,152.5% in the 4th quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 130,412 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $21,136,000 after acquiring an additional 120,000 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Mizuho lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Dbs Bank cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.90.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $200.88 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a PEG 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. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $194.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $209.90.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued 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 firm 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

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.