New England Research & Management Inc. Boosts Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

New England Research & Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,575 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 6,942 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.0% during the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,010 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 14.9% during the third quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,103 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,839,000 after buying an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 11,870 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,398,000 after acquiring an additional 2,034 shares during the period. Finally, Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.9 %

Applied Materials stock traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $200.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,708,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,061,492. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $165.70 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $194.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.98.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. B. Riley dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.90.

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.