World Investment Advisors LLC Has $1.99 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 70.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,845 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,073 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its stake in Applied Materials by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 47,649 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $9,627,000 after purchasing an additional 9,941 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,746 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Advisory Resource Group raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 22.5% during the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 24,867 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $5,024,000 after buying an additional 4,561 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 67.7% in the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 6,951 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,404,000 after buying an additional 2,806 shares during the period. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 763.7% during the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,072 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $7,693,000 after buying an additional 33,664 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $169.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,051,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,207,007. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $148.05 and a one year high of $255.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $182.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.42. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $139.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $220.29.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.