Fulton Bank N.A. Purchases 15,385 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 221.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,321 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,385 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in Applied Materials by 0.6% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Merriman Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Merriman Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,438 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, waypoint wealth counsel grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.1% during the third quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 1,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.29.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT traded down $1.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $176.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,680,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,463,180. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.24 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.82. The stock has a market cap of $143.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

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.