Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Hoxton Planning & Management LLC

Hoxton Planning & Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,052 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 63,499 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,291,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 10,783 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,498 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 107,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $17,490,000 after purchasing an additional 9,906 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 12,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1,152.5% during the fourth quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 130,412 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $21,136,000 after purchasing an additional 120,000 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.90.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $200.88 on Wednesday. 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 $166.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.90. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

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.