1,439 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by EdgeRock Capital LLC

EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,439 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 16.6% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 65,361 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,049,000 after buying an additional 9,292 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.3% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,819 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 27.9% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 204,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,961,000 after buying an additional 44,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 54.6% in the third quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 487 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.7 %

AMAT stock traded down $1.54 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $207.32. The stock had a trading volume of 3,200,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,937,529. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.05. 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 market cap of $172.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $112.86 and a twelve month high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho upped their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

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.