Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by First PREMIER Bank

First PREMIER Bank boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 124 shares during the quarter. First PREMIER Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $33,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.1 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $205.06 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $169.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.21 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho cut their target price 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, September 20th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.90.

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.