LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Acquires 335 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,710 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 335 shares during the quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 56.0% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT traded down $4.35 on Wednesday, reaching $186.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,094,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,054,882. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $195.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $209.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. B. Riley cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

About Applied Materials

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.