Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Purchases 333 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,616 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,645,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $595,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 52,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,801,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 218.9% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 825,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $170,182,000 after purchasing an additional 566,516 shares during the period. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.4% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 11,833 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 9.2 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $168.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $139.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $190.88 and its 200 day moving average is $206.73. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $141.94 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 17.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Eight research 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.81.

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.