Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Makes New $24.25 Million Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 120,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $24,246,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 47.0% in the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 252.0% in the third quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 4,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 3,389 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 89.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,988 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,338 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $2.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $192.03. 4,767,343 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,360,265. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.30. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $158.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.94 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 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, Citigroup decreased their target price 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. Eight research 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 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.