Pacer Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 143,185 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,997 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $28,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 557,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $112,656,000 after purchasing an additional 48,861 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 34,379 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,053,230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $212,805,000 after purchasing an additional 116,312 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 4,037 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 51,700 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $10,446,000 after purchasing an additional 8,600 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.05.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $174.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $144.57 and a one year high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $189.83 and a 200 day moving average of $205.74.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

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.