Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,688 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,626 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $773,611,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $464,974,000 after buying an additional 1,259,111 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 262.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $280,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after acquiring an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $192.03 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.94 and a 12 month high of $255.89. 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 fifty day moving average price of $190.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.30. The company has a market cap of $158.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials 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.