Two Sigma Advisers LP Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 59,700 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,100 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $12,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. B. Riley reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $171.86 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $185.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.74. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $148.05 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $141.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.