Centric Wealth Management Grows Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Centric Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,113 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up approximately 0.9% of Centric Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Centric Wealth Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its holdings 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, PSI Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.1 %

AMAT stock opened at $171.32 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.76. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.57 and a 52-week high of $255.89. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $141.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 issued 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 0.93%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.05.

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.