Atria Investments Inc Buys 635 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,712 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,469,028,000 after acquiring an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 29.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.4% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,070,167,000 after purchasing an additional 490,597 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,199,817,000 after purchasing an additional 81,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $192.03 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.94 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $158.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

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.