Balboa Wealth Partners Grows Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Balboa Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 758 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $186.00 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.94 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.56. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $190.88 and its 200-day moving average is $207.13.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released 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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Dbs Bank cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective 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. 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.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.24.

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.