Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Position Boosted by U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,982 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $973,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 341.0% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209,218 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 67.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 262.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $280,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 87.7% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $379,275,000 after acquiring an additional 877,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.1 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $178.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a market cap of $145.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $174.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.14.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus 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.