Stratos Investment Management LLC Has $427,000 Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Stratos Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,625 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 120 shares during the quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank raised its position in Applied Materials by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 168,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,079,000 after buying an additional 10,331 shares during the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $440,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 2.8% in the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 7,641 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $180.67 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $174.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.92. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

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.