Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Milestone Resources Group Ltd

Milestone Resources Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 41.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,334 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for 0.0% of Milestone Resources Group Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Milestone Resources Group Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $270,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 341.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209,218 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 67.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after buying an additional 1,884,153 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 262.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $280,951,000 after buying an additional 1,006,937 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $379,275,000 after acquiring an additional 877,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.29.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $1.44 on Friday, hitting $170.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,094,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,181,004. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.05 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52. 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’s 50 day moving average is $183.52 and its 200-day moving average is $201.92.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

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.