Private Advisor Group LLC Buys 6,365 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,263 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,365 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after buying an additional 672,548 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,994,968,000 after buying an additional 371,866 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,316,269,000 after buying an additional 858,122 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,790,554,000 after buying an additional 318,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,655,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,082,353,000 after buying an additional 84,130 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $171.98 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $158.96 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $139.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 20.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

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.