Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Has $533,000 Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 34.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,276 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $340,895,000 after acquiring an additional 164,085 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 15,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,138,000 after purchasing an additional 653,739 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.8 %

AMAT opened at $180.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $174.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.06. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

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.