King Luther Capital Management Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,037 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth $382,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.2% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,466 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $11,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP increased its position in Applied Materials by 62.5% during the 1st quarter. Bornite Capital Management LP now owns 65,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,405,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 64.3% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 7,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,460,000 after buying an additional 2,770 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $174.88 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $189.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.57 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $144.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.05.

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.