Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by World Investment Advisors LLC

World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 70.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,845 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,073 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lantz Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $212,000. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.7% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 21,941 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,829,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 160.7% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 318 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.2% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 838,364 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $197,845,000 after buying an additional 9,687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.1% in the second quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 6,356 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,500,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho dropped their price target 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. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.29.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $169.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $139.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $201.42. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.05 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.