Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Has $1.41 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,969 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 720 shares during the quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group lowered their price target 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. B. Riley lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $186.48 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $139.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $191.18 and a 200-day moving average of $207.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.98%.

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.