Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Has $10.64 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 26.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 52,639 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,165 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JT Stratford LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $227.24.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.0 %

AMAT opened at $182.79 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $190.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 2.29 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.98%.

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.