Unigestion Holding SA Has $1.40 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Unigestion Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 67.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,951 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,806 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 4.7% in the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Merriman Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Merriman Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,438 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Biltmore Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.3% in the third quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AMAT. Mizuho decreased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.29.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $168.17 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market cap of $138.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $185.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $202.74. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.05 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.