Courier Capital LLC Acquires 304 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Courier Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,046,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $33,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $182.70 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $151.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $194.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $208.75.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

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.