Prospera Financial Services Inc Increases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 29.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,472 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,215 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $13,722,000 after buying an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 15,183 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its stake in Applied Materials by 252.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 4,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $957,000 after buying an additional 3,389 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 52,639 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $10,636,000 after purchasing an additional 11,165 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.7 %

AMAT stock opened at $170.49 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $144.57 and a one year high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $190.26 and a 200-day moving average of $206.19.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS 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 company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $219.81.

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.