New Century Financial Group LLC Purchases Shares of 1,596 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

New Century Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,596 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $186.75 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one 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. The firm has a market cap of $151.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $173.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.92.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date 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.