Traynor Capital Management Inc. Buys 393 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Traynor Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,141 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group reduced their price target 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, StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $185.34 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.21. 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 cap of $153.46 billion, a PE ratio of 21.30, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

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.