Eastern Bank Increases Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Eastern Bank increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 120,355 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,668 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $24,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JT Stratford LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in 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 period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.6% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% in the second quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $184.32. 3,121,064 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,080,288. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $195.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $209.11. The company has a market capitalization of $152.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued 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 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

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.