Centricity Wealth Management LLC Takes $47,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 290 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $209,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10.8% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 14,586 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,947,000 after buying an additional 1,418 shares during the last quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% in the third quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 11,927 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,410,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $171.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $139.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.92. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

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.