Ballentine Partners LLC Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,561 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,535 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $773,611,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259,111 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $280,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,937 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after buying an additional 891,446 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $162,873,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $183.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. B. Riley dropped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.