Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp Raises Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,387 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 461 shares during the quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $684,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank grew 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 acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $186.52 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

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.