Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Buys 1,813 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,582 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,813 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $183.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.17. 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 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. 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.