New Covenant Trust Company N.A. Makes New $204,000 Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 997 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $136.67 and a one year high of $255.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 2.53 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 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 17.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

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.