Allworth Financial LP Raises Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,465 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,434,684 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,720,928,000 after purchasing an additional 301,010 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,389,048,000 after buying an additional 456,865 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 25.1% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 9,609,330 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,388,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925,722 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $930,505,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley raised their price target on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $194.39.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $207.85 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.00 and a 1 year high of $214.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $195.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $165.05. The company has a market cap of $172.70 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

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.