Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Buys 1,997 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 26.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,517 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,997 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 35.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,671 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 49,122 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,801,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 149.4% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 444 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,177 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Purus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,574 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.3 %

AMAT traded up $0.67 on Wednesday, hitting $193.91. The company had a trading volume of 2,014,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,139,839. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.59. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $202.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.76. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.15 and a 12-month high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

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.