IFM Investors Pty Ltd Increases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 174,332 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $35,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank boosted 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 purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, B. Riley reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $183.86. 2,829,015 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,081,251. The company has a market cap of $152.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $194.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.75.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. 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 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.