EP Wealth Advisors LLC Has $14.19 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 19.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,365 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $14,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.6 %

AMAT opened at $173.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $142.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $185.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $203.17. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.29.

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.