WD Rutherford LLC Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

WD Rutherford LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,391 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 149.4% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 444 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in 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 worth $1,013,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,163 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 15.7% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 325,346 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $45,044,000 after buying an additional 44,232 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 86.3% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 3,075 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 1,424 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.0 %

AMAT stock opened at $203.38 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.15 and a twelve month high of $214.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $203.42 and its 200-day moving average is $171.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho increased their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

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.