Camden National Bank Purchases Shares of 1,978 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Camden National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,978 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $400,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.05.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $174.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.57 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $189.83 and a 200-day moving average of $205.74.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

About Applied Materials

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.