Mizuho Markets Cayman LP Acquires 2,875 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Mizuho Markets Cayman LP raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 144.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,865 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,875 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises approximately 4.1% of Mizuho Markets Cayman LP’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 14.6% during the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 2,616 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.9% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 29,350 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,930,000 after buying an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,242 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,059,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 89,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $18,056,000 after acquiring an additional 6,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 263,586 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $53,258,000 after acquiring an additional 10,991 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 9.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $168.88 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $190.88 and a 200-day moving average of $206.73. 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 market cap of $139.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.94 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. 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, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.81.

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.