Olympiad Research LP Grows Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Olympiad Research LP increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 999 shares during the quarter. Olympiad Research LP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Mizuho cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $190.56 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.61 and a 1-year high of $255.89. 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 company has a market capitalization of $157.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.37.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 17.98%.

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.