Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Has $730,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,505 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 76.9% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $39,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 333.8% during the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 295 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. L2 Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 795.0% during the third quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 29,606 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 26,298 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $42,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $4.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $194.03. 2,349,285 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,166,076. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $202.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.38. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.15 and a 52 week high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

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.