Fortress Financial Solutions LLC Takes $321,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fortress Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,971 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 341.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $577,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,218 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 67.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $942,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 262.5% during 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 buying an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% during 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 buying an additional 877,133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Mizuho 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, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.00.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $183.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $148.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $175.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.04. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.