SGL Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases New Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

SGL Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,079 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $759,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,518,655 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $306,844,000 after acquiring an additional 376,191 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.4% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 136,840 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $27,649,000 after buying an additional 10,631 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $784,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 5,277.9% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310,414 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $62,719,000 after acquiring an additional 304,642 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho decreased their price target 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.29.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $173.02 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $142.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.57 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $185.91 and its 200-day moving average is $203.06.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.