First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services Purchases 9,886 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 63.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 25,360 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,886 shares during the period. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted its holdings 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $0.54 on Monday, reaching $182.84. 727,633 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,062,237. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $191.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.63. The company has a market capitalization of $150.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 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 52 week low of $139.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

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.