Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Portside Wealth Group LLC

Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 53.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,824 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,024 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $194.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.61 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $191.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.37. 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.98%.

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.