Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC Grows Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 90.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,277 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,397 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises about 0.7% of Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,679,355 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $945,464,000 after acquiring an additional 44,928 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,839,715 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $906,134,000 after purchasing an additional 59,910 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports 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. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.05.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $174.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.57 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $189.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.72. The firm has a market cap of $144.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

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.