Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Strategic Investment Advisors MI

Strategic Investment Advisors MI grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,163 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 67,341 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $10,952,000 after buying an additional 7,352 shares in the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 6,698 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $329,000. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 60,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $9,787,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 58,209 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $9,467,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $186.75 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $151.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

About Applied Materials

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.