2,666 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by Unified Investment Management

Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,666 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $434,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock opened at $158.07 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $128.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.77. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.95 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. 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.