Private Trust Co. NA Has $2.28 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,286 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 937 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 56.0% in the 2nd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.05.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT opened at $175.75 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $144.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.57 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $189.83 and a 200-day moving average of $205.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.