Conning Inc. Boosts Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Conning Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 18.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,900 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,801 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. B. Riley reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $183.38 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $136.67 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s 50-day moving average is $191.65 and its 200 day moving average is $207.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.98%.

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.