Forte Capital LLC ADV Boosts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,262 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 110 shares during the quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 89.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,988 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,121,000 after buying an additional 4,239 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,338 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $552,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE increased its stake in Applied Materials by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE now owns 51,272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $10,360,000 after purchasing an additional 7,094 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 17.3% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 23,949 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,939,000 after purchasing an additional 3,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, L & S Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,069,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $194.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.37. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.61 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $160.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.56. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.