Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,118,152 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 96,009 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $225,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. First PREMIER Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.4 %

AMAT opened at $161.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $180.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $200.13. The company has a market capitalization of $133.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $148.05 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.29.

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.