326 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Bought by Whipplewood Advisors LLC

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 326 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $158.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $128.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.03. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.95 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. Research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 20.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.