Van ECK Associates Corp Has $1.33 Billion Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for 1.5% of Van ECK Associates Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.79% of Applied Materials worth $1,327,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. First PREMIER Bank grew its holdings 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $1.80 during trading on Friday, hitting $183.38. 6,318,878 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,109,268. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $191.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The company has a market capitalization of $151.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $136.67 and a 1-year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials 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.