Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,033 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,658 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 76.9% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Bank Of America (Bofa) boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James increased their price target on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $207.36 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $112.86 and a 1 year high of $214.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $204.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.05. The company has a market cap of $172.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS 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 period last year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.82%.

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.