Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Rakuten Securities Inc.

Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 117.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,380 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.19.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $188.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $190.81 and a 200-day moving average of $207.42. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.94 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $155.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 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.