Accurate Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Accurate Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,024 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 29.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $340,895,000 after purchasing an additional 164,085 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,722,000 after buying an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 15,183 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Applied Materials by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $343,138,000 after buying an additional 653,739 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.24.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $173.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $173.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.84 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.