Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Has $22.98 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,739 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,510 shares during the quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $22,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JT Stratford LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.6% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.4 %

AMAT opened at $189.02 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $191.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.51. The firm has a market cap of $155.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $139.69 and a twelve month high of $255.89. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.98%.

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.