Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Acquires Shares of 772 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $156,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,469,028,000 after purchasing an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,070,167,000 after acquiring an additional 490,597 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,199,817,000 after acquiring an additional 81,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after acquiring an additional 108,827 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. 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 reduced their target price on 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 lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. 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 research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price 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. Eight equities research 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.24.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $186.61 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.94 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $153.84 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $190.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors 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 yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.