Wealth Management Partners LLC Acquires 359 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Wealth Management Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,086 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Wealth Management Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,910 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 3,189 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,617 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 7,388 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,202,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,046 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $983,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.95.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $192.05 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.78 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 50-day simple moving average of $173.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.95. The company has a market cap of $156.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

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.