Shepherd Financial Partners LLC Purchases 411 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Shepherd Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,172 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors 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 second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $33,000. First PREMIER Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $3.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $185.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,355,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,063,988. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $136.67 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $192.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.74. The company has a market cap of $152.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, B. Riley decreased their price target 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

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.