Beacon Financial Group Invests $247,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Beacon Financial Group purchased a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,516 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 344.7% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 20,945 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,232,000 after purchasing an additional 16,235 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 14.6% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,013 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 223,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,910,000 after acquiring an additional 27,348 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after acquiring an additional 108,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $345,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $180.89 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $158.96 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $175.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One 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 data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.00.

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.