First Merchants Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

First Merchants Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 41.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,269 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,825 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Biltmore Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.3% in the third quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Field & Main Bank increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,259 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $860,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $169.20 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. On average, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.10.

Applied Materials 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.