Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by State Street Corp

State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 672,548 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned 4.71% of Applied Materials worth $7,841,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $181.16 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $187.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $203.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $149.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.52.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on AMAT. B. Riley lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. 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 research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.48.

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.