Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Angeles Investment Advisors LLC

Angeles Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,498 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Haverford Trust Co increased its position in Applied Materials by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 3,348 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,690 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 15,183 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 134,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $27,075,000 after purchasing an additional 30,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 8,448 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. B. Riley dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.24.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $2.51 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $184.10. The stock had a trading volume of 414,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,028,375. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.94 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $151.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.56. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $190.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its 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. The business 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%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

Applied Materials Company 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.