First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services Boosts Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,331 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 971 shares during the period. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 81,088 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,136,000 after acquiring an additional 1,977 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $318,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 33.1% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,231 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,886,000 after acquiring an additional 3,042 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 82,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,396,000 after acquiring an additional 4,588 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 11,927 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.41.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $192.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.61. The company has a market cap of $156.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.78 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued 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 net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.