Hohimer Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Hohimer Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,983 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up 1.4% of Hohimer Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 110,875 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,969,000 after buying an additional 5,353 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 2,914 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 5,166 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 1,026 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $117,000. Finally, Union Savings Bank grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 4,428 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.64.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $0.56 on Thursday, reaching $217.59. 3,583,474 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,789,807. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $205.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.84. The company has a market cap of $180.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.18 and a 12 month high of $225.07.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.71%.

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.