Malaga Cove Capital LLC Has $874,000 Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Malaga Cove Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,391 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 76.9% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. L2 Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 795.0% during the 3rd quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 29,606 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 26,298 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $6.18 on Friday, hitting $204.09. 3,818,510 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, 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. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $111.72 and a one year high of $214.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $203.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.57.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AMAT. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.