Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 26,975 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

by · The Markets Daily

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Free Report) by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 257,636 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,975 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $52,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the second quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.9% during the second quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 6,090 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.05.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Applied Materials

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $174.88 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.72. The firm has a market cap of $144.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.57 and a 1-year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Applied Materials 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.

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