Webster Bank N. A. Has $276,000 Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Webster Bank N. A. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,365 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. JT Stratford LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.6% during the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% in the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $205.06 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $209.78. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 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 revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.