RiverPark Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

RiverPark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,931 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $794,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $773,611,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $464,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259,111 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $162,873,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. 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 stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $219.81.

Applied Materials Trading Down 9.2 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $17.12 on Friday, reaching $168.88. 16,287,484 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,981,500. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $141.94 and a one year high of $255.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $190.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $206.78. The stock has a market cap of $139.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.71% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

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.