Sonoma Private Wealth LLC Acquires 526 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sonoma Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,475 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up approximately 1.4% of Sonoma Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Sonoma Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock opened at $158.07 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $175.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $182.77. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.95 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $128.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate 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.