Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $10.95 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,341 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,352 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. First PREMIER Bank grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 592.9% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 61.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $186.75 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.07.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. 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 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.