Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,153 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 385 shares during the quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 10.4% during the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 19,832 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 8.4% during the third quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 19.7% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 3,294 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $171.98 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $158.96 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $139.77 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a 50-day moving average of $175.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.38.

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.