884 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC

Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 884 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 96.6% during the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.05.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $192.16 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $159.10 billion, a P/E 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. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.18.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. 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 0.83%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

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.