SGL Investment Advisors Inc. Buys New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

SGL Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,079 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $759,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position 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 worth $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 47.0% in the third 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 last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $343,138,000 after buying an additional 653,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after acquiring an additional 672,548 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $1.66 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $171.36. 4,903,789 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,180,393. The company has a market cap of $141.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.05 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $185.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $203.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AMAT. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced 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 note on Friday, November 15th. One investment 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.