Petredis Investment Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,506 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises 0.8% of Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 50.5% in the third quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,388 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 14.5% in the third quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 7,277 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 12.7% in the third quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 13,542 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.5% in the third quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 20,895 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Down 10.7 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $191.02 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $209.72. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $158.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.