ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Trims Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,784 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 147 shares during the quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Provence Wealth Management Group increased its stake in Applied Materials by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 3,937 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,992 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $647,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,476 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,255 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Applied Materials by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,794,715 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $290,869,000 after purchasing an additional 213,987 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT traded up $6.18 on Friday, reaching $204.09. 3,818,510 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,695,384. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $203.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $111.72 and a fifty-two week high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

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.