Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Purchases 1,640 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,897 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,088 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 17.2% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 120,355 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $24,318,000 after acquiring an additional 17,668 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $336,000. Vicus Capital bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $290,000. Finally, Harbor Advisory Corp MA bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $232,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $183.00 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $151.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $195.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.