Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,492 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Creative Planning raised its stake in Applied Materials by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 223,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,910,000 after acquiring an additional 27,348 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 14.6% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,013 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 344.7% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 20,945 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,232,000 after purchasing an additional 16,235 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 306,787 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $61,986,000 after buying an additional 19,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 63.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $213.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $177.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.83. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

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.