Rothschild Investment LLC Buys 79 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,397 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 79 shares during the quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Applied Materials by 2.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares during the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 16.1% in the third quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,725 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 43.3% in the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 4,980 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,008,000 after buying an additional 1,505 shares during the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 34.5% during the 3rd quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,392 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,638 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 17.5% during the third quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 3,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $787,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $165.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $175.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $158.96 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $134.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.