Centaurus Financial Inc. Grows Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,815 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,199,817,000 after purchasing an additional 81,151 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,679,355 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $945,464,000 after purchasing an additional 44,928 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after buying an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,839,715 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $906,134,000 after buying an additional 59,910 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given 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 $222.05.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $174.55 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $189.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $205.49. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.57 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 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 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.