Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,875 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,065 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,875 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up 2.8% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Foster Group Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $265,000. Welch Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $224,000. Perpetual Ltd increased its position in Applied Materials by 113.6% in the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 15,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,135,000 after purchasing an additional 8,083 shares during the period. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $379,000. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 7,698 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.4 %

AMAT stock opened at $184.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50-day moving average of $195.86 and a 200-day moving average of $209.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

About Applied Materials

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.