Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,646 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,039 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 341.0% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $577,288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209,218 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 67.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $942,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 262.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $280,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 87.7% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $379,275,000 after purchasing an additional 877,133 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective 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, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $181.72 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $174.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.55. The firm has a market cap of $147.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.