Modus Advisors LLC Makes New $295,000 Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,462 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $1.62 on Thursday, reaching $203.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,163,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,014,245. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The stock has a market cap of $168.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $194.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $209.81.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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. 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 0.79%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 note on Thursday, October 3rd. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.