Planned Solutions Inc. Purchases New Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,365 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,020,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $134,555,000 after buying an additional 54,261 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in Applied Materials by 92.3% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,180 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 8,981 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.6% during the first quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,215 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $208.00 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $189.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $172.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $109.00 and a one year high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. Applied Materials’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.83.

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.