Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. Invests $368,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,009 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $368,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Maseco LLP bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 435.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in Applied Materials by 5,325.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Disciplina Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 91.5% during the 1st quarter. Disciplina Capital Management LLC now owns 272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Greenline Partners LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. Citigroup lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, October 31st. Daiwa America lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 15th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.31.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.8%

Applied Materials stock opened at $226.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $180.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.84. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $242.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $209.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.50.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.96% and a net margin of 23.88%.The business had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.93%.

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.