Liberty Wealth Management LLC Purchases 204 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Liberty Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,127 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 204 shares during the quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup cut their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Dbs Bank cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $192.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $158.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.30. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.94 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during 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%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.98%.

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.