MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Acquires 218 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,311 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Savoie Capital LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 13.5% during the third quarter. Savoie Capital LLC now owns 87,695 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,719,000 after acquiring an additional 10,400 shares during the last quarter. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at $374,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Applied Materials by 106.5% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 690,160 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $139,447,000 after acquiring an additional 355,926 shares during the last quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at $1,223,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 25.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $168.17 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.05 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $138.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $185.31 and its 200 day moving average is $202.74.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.45 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. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.