Planning Directions Inc. Buys New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Planning Directions Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,920 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $930,505,000. Cowa LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $76,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 79,147.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,726,422 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $557,639,000 after acquiring an additional 5,719,196 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 25.1% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 9,609,330 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,388,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 63.9% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,892,930 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $562,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517,116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $4.55 on Friday, reaching $189.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,495,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,179,863. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $202.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.15 and a 52-week high of $214.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

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.