Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 117,150 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,496 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $23,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JT Stratford LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% during the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,041 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of AMAT traded down $4.56 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $185.56. 1,500,194 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,059,058. The business has a fifty day moving average of $192.88 and a 200-day moving average of $208.08. 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 $153.64 billion, a PE ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.21 and a 1-year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

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.