1,611 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Bought by Crescent Grove Advisors LLC

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,611 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $33,000. First PREMIER Bank grew its holdings 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. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $187.52 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $139.69 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $154.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.37. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

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.