Kimelman & Baird LLC Acquires Shares of 516 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 516 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $122,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 96.6% in the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $202.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $195.19 and a 200 day moving average of $210.02. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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 analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Barclays raised shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.05.

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.