Victory Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

by · The Markets Daily

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Free Report) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,183 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.14% of Applied Materials worth $230,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $228.19.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Applied Materials

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT traded down $2.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $186.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,434,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,035,128. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.94 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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