Janus Henderson Group PLC Acquires 1,884,153 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 67.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,884,153 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.57% of Applied Materials worth $942,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 6,090 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $183.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $151.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.52. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.57 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $187.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.19.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.48.

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.