Avitas Wealth Management LLC Has $8.13 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 40,258 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up about 1.1% of Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 5.8% in the third quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,418 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Eagle Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 5,910 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 170.4% during the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,587 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $190.12 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $208.08. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.21 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid 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 0.84%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. B. Riley reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

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.