Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC Has $360,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,781 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WoodTrust Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% during the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,722,000 after acquiring an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 7,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its position in Applied Materials by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 1,262 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. M&G PLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 72.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 16,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,264,000 after purchasing an additional 6,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Umpqua Bank grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 1,267 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $187.52 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $154.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $139.69 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $191.07 and its 200-day moving average is $207.37.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.98%.

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.