Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by MONECO Advisors LLC

MONECO Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,248 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 174 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Applied Materials by 4.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,389,048,000 after buying an additional 456,865 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after purchasing an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,968,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $687,936,000 after purchasing an additional 230,789 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,838,268 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $622,068,000 after purchasing an additional 308,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,831,986 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $458,980,000 after acquiring an additional 351,206 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AMAT. TD Cowen raised their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $196.50 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $111.20 and a 12 month high of $214.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $203.72 and a 200-day moving average of $172.81. The company has a market capitalization of $163.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same period 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

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.