Nilsine Partners LLC Purchases 2,639 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Nilsine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,639 shares during the period. Nilsine Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Berkshire Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $301,000. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 5,971 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,666 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,409,000 after buying an additional 2,895 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. now owns 5,327 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 335.4% during the 4th quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after acquiring an additional 11,593 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen decreased 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. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Down 6.5 %

AMAT opened at $174.57 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $174.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.61. The stock has a market cap of $142.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.