Caitlin John LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Caitlin John LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,736 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up 1.6% of Caitlin John LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Caitlin John LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 6.5% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 168,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,079,000 after buying an additional 10,331 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $440,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.8% during the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 7,641 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,544,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $180.67 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.92. The stock has a market cap of $146.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.