Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Buys 326 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,505 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aldebaran Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $211,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 132.7% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 31.2% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,810,000 after acquiring an additional 39,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $299,267,000 after acquiring an additional 6,466 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT traded up $4.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $194.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,349,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,166,076. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $109.15 and a one year high of $214.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.22 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $202.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.38.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

About Applied Materials

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.