Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,784 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,228 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $15,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 56.0% in the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its position 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 buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Mizuho dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, B. Riley dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $228.19.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT traded up $0.67 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $189.23. The stock had a trading volume of 449,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,031,047. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.94 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $190.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.42.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. 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.