Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 267 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,242 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JT Stratford LLC increased its holdings in 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 last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.7% in the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.6% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $168.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $190.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.73. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.94 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.81.

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.