Executive Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Executive Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,054 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,223,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $33,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third 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 lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $220.29.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $3.69 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $168.17. The company had a trading volume of 8,226,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,201,802. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $185.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $202.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $148.05 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $138.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.