Welch Group LLC Has $304,000 Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Welch Group LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 40.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,505 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. 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 acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $186.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 363,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,063,972. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $193.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.40. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

About Applied Materials

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.