Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp Reduces Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,554 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 7,939 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $50,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 341.0% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $577,288,000 after buying an additional 2,209,218 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 67.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $942,187,000 after buying an additional 1,884,153 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $280,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,937 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $379,275,000 after purchasing an additional 877,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $0.27 on Friday, hitting $169.35. 6,920,968 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,206,406. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $148.05 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $183.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.92.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 business 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%. The company's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. 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 note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $220.29.

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.