EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 225 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,408 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% during 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. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.4% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,070,167,000 after purchasing an additional 490,597 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,199,817,000 after purchasing an additional 81,151 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after buying an additional 108,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,839,715 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $906,134,000 after acquiring an additional 59,910 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $1.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $168.13. 836,538 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,133,518. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $190.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.44.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials 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.