West Oak Capital LLC Purchases 535 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,982 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after buying an additional 672,548 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after acquiring an additional 371,866 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,316,269,000 after acquiring an additional 858,122 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,790,554,000 after acquiring an additional 318,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $170.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $139.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.84 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.24.

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.