Intellectus Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Intellectus Partners LLC lowered its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,906 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 227 shares during the period. Intellectus Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 91.0% during the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,614 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 2,198 shares during the last quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,126,000. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 659,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $107,004,000 after buying an additional 34,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dohj LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $393,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Bank Of America (Bofa) boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $5.88 on Friday, hitting $203.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,933,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,553,379. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.15 and a 52-week high of $214.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $203.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.77. The company has a market capitalization of $168.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 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.