Black Swift Group LLC Invests $505,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Black Swift Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $505,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second 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. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.24.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $2.90 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $185.69. 1,310,215 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,043,830. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.56. 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 one year low of $141.94 and a one year high of $255.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $190.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.13.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 17.98%.

Applied Materials 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.