Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Purchases 346,670 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 245.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 488,044 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 346,670 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Applied Materials worth $96,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 67.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $942,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,153 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 262.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $280,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $379,275,000 after acquiring an additional 877,133 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,316,269,000 after acquiring an additional 858,122 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 5.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $172.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $186.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $203.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.57 and a 1 year 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.76.

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.