Orca Wealth Management LLC Invests $288,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Orca Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,771 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 5,578 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 4,931 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,619 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,004,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 2,783 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $789,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $172.85 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $174.07 and its 200 day moving average is $188.14. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market capitalization of $140.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Applied Materials Company 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.