Bogart Wealth LLC Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,283 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,389 shares during the quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 76.9% during the 3rd 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 acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $39,000. L2 Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 795.0% in the third quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 29,606 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 26,298 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $207.35. 302,870 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,841,704. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.91 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The business’s 50 day moving average is $204.09 and its 200-day moving average is $175.05. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $172.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus 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.