Apollon Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,505 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. PSI Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank grew its stake in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. B. Riley decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.19.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $188.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $190.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.48. The company has a market capitalization of $155.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.94 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

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.