Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,118,152 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 96,009 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of Applied Materials worth $225,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $212,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 11.4% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,731 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 20.2% during the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 140.1% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 917 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 24.3% during the second quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 8,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,113,000 after buying an additional 1,750 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $220.29.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $2.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $163.59. The company had a trading volume of 15,050,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,270,956. 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 1-year low of $148.05 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The business's 50 day moving average price is $179.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $199.78. The firm has a market cap of $133.11 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th 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 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.