Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Has $1.41 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,969 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 720 shares during the quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy CG LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.3% in the third quarter. Legacy CG LLC now owns 32,423 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,551,000 after buying an additional 2,473 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 3,839 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services raised its stake in Applied Materials by 63.9% during the 3rd quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services now owns 25,360 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,124,000 after purchasing an additional 9,886 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in Applied Materials by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,006,828 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $405,480,000 after purchasing an additional 232,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cohen Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. now owns 154,975 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,313,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.6 %

AMAT opened at $186.48 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $139.21 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $153.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $191.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.