Traynor Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Traynor Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,482 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in Applied Materials by 70.9% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 31,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,526,000 after purchasing an additional 13,234 shares during the period. AlTi Global Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 65.8% in the second quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 13,924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,286,000 after buying an additional 5,524 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,490,874 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $351,831,000 after buying an additional 117,793 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 259,548 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $61,619,000 after buying an additional 5,488 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $708,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $195.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $159.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 1.96 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. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.96 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $173.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price 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. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective 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. 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.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

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.