Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $362,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,791 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 88.4% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 21,153 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,362,000 after purchasing an additional 9,928 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.8% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $806,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $134,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 7,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth $243,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $4.52 on Friday, reaching $188.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,249,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,074,386. The firm has a market cap of $155.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $194.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.75.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 presently 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

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.