Arvest Bank Trust Division Buys Shares of 66,781 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 66,781 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,493,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes 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 acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank boosted 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 buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% in the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. B. Riley cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $220.29.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT traded down $2.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $169.08. 6,093,654 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,203,439. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $184.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.15. The company has a market cap of $139.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.05 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.