Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by AE Wealth Management LLC

AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 64.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,177 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,561 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $352,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121,912 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259,111 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,012,171,000 after buying an additional 973,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $162,873,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.05.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $192.16 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two 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’s fifty day moving average is $198.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55.

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, 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 firm 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 posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

About Applied Materials

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.