Heartland Bank & Trust Co Takes $396,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,678 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $2,029,000. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 10,173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 15.0% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 883 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.4% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 25,931 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,119,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784 shares during the period. Finally, Old North State Trust LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $247,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. B. Riley lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.05.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $202.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.21 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.02. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

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.