Busey Bank Has $29.02 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Busey Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 178,420 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,679 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises approximately 1.0% of Busey Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Busey Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $29,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 883 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 51.0% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 11,812 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,788,000 after purchasing an additional 3,990 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $13,521,000. Lazari Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% in the 2nd quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 9,805 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,314,000 after buying an additional 5,592 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One 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 MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $175.28 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Analysts predict 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Applied Materials 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.