Corient Private Wealth LLC Purchases 45,431 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 407,299 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 45,431 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $66,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 197,905 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $32,074,000 after purchasing an additional 19,033 shares in the last quarter. Balentine LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 19,263 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,122,000 after purchasing an additional 3,538 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,698 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,868,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $418,000. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,982 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $807,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 17th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.64.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $219.41 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $205.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $182.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.18 and a 12 month high of $221.75.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 14.71%.

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.