Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,588 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $19,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after purchasing an additional 891,446 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,566,418,000 after buying an additional 682,098 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,226,581,000 after acquiring an additional 224,296 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,322,280,000 after acquiring an additional 360,002 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,854,099 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,762,000 after acquiring an additional 116,808 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $196.71 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.28.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given 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 (DPR) is 18.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. 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 report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, B. Riley dropped their target price 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.00.

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.