Brighton Jones LLC Raises Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 28.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $245,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 238.1% during the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 76,121 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $17,964,000 after acquiring an additional 53,606 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $1,052,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,044,543 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $246,502,000 after purchasing an additional 199,087 shares during the period. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,006,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.1 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $186.75 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $173.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.92. The stock has a market cap of $151.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. 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 business 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.