Busey Bank Buys 1,391 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Busey Bank lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 175,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 1.2% of Busey Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Busey Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $35,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 88.4% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 21,153 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,362,000 after purchasing an additional 9,928 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 6.8% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth $134,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 7,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth $243,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.6 %

AMAT stock opened at $183.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.75. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $152.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Susquehanna cut their target price on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

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.