Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC

Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,063 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at $37,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup increased their target price on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $171.98 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $175.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $183.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $139.77 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 20.92%.

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.