Hardy Reed LLC Has $1.44 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Hardy Reed LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,132 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Hardy Reed LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. 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 research note on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.05.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $173.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.57 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $189.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.23.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Applied Materials Company 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.