Advisory Alpha LLC Raises Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 96.6% in the 1st 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. B. Riley reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Dbs Bank cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.05.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $202.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.02. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22, a P/E/G 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 earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. 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%.

About Applied Materials

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.