Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys 3,029 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,793 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JT Stratford LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its position in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 4.7% during the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group decreased 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $182.70 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $194.71 and its 200-day moving average is $208.75. The stock has a market cap of $151.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.21 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Applied Materials Company 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.