Calamos Wealth Management LLC Acquires 1,286 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,276 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares during the quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Columbus Macro LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 1,358 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC now owns 65,080 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $10,584,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. Vantage Point Financial LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $271,000. Fourpath Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 9,493 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,544,000 after buying an additional 1,179 shares during the period. Finally, Optas LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $178.80 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $174.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $158.96 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $145.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Applied Materials 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.