5 Best Cheap Semiconductor Stocks to Buy and Hold

3. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

PE Ratio as of August 29: 13.16

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 67

On August 18, Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) reported market-beating earnings for its fiscal third quarter of 2022. The company reported earnings per share of $1.94, which beat estimates by $0.05. The company’s revenue came in at $6.52 billion, up 5.23% year-over-year, and topping expectations by $252 million.

Wall Street is bullish on Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT). On August 19, Deutsche Bank analyst Sidney Ho raised his price target on Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) to $115 and reiterated a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares. On August 21, BofA analyst Vivek Arya raised his price target on Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) to $125 from $118 and also maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares.

As of August 29, Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has a trailing twelve-month PE ratio of 13.16x. AMAT shares offer a forward dividend yield of 1.05%, which the company supports with free cash flow of $4.92 billion.

At the end of Q2, 67 hedge funds were long Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), owning stakes worth $3.68 billion. Of those, Generation Investment Management was the top stakeholder in the company with a position worth $555 million.