Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Advisory Resource Group

Advisory Resource Group raised its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,884 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,017 shares during the quarter. Advisory Resource Group’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.5 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $180.00 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $158.96 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $146.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $175.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS 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 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 of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen cut their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

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.