Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,992 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 47.0% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,480,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,464,000 after purchasing an additional 793,610 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $441,514,000 after buying an additional 778,716 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Applied Materials by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 13,929.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 515,028 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $834,710,000 after acquiring an additional 511,357 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its position in Applied Materials by 117.6% in the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 926,917 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $128,341,000 after acquiring an additional 500,900 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $6.18 on Friday, reaching $204.09. The stock had a trading volume of 3,818,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,695,384. The company has a market capitalization of $169.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $203.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $111.72 and a 1-year high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Applied Materials Company 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.