Eagle Strategies LLC Increases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Eagle Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,475 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Eagle Strategies LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,469,028,000 after purchasing an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 10.4% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,070,167,000 after purchasing an additional 490,597 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,199,817,000 after purchasing an additional 81,151 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.5% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,061,739 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,194,520,000 after purchasing an additional 438,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $185.30 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $153.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $192.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.92.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. 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. Finally, B. Riley decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

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.