Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $156,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. JT Stratford LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,246,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 2nd 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 increased its position in Applied Materials by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Dbs Bank cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.24.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $186.61 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $190.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.42. The stock has a market cap of $153.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.86, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.94 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. 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 0.86%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio 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.