Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $7.39 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 60.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,539 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,735 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $13,333,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $228,000. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 40,267 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,503,000 after purchasing an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,613 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,156,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $212,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $183.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $144.57 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.48.

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.