Lion Street Advisors LLC Makes New $333,000 Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Lion Street Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,045 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.5% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 168,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $34,079,000 after buying an additional 10,331 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth $440,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.8% during 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 during the period. Finally, Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $180.67 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.92.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.