Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Acquires 80,545 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 412,083 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 80,545 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises 1.8% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $83,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.7% in the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 6,090 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Susquehanna dropped 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. Dbs Bank cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.05.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $0.33 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $174.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,926,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,174,374. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $189.57 and a 200-day moving average of $205.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a market cap of $143.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.57 and a 12 month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

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.