Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Boosts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 100,292 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $20,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.48.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $174.71 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $204.41. The firm has a market cap of $144.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.