United Asset Strategies Inc. Sells 292 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

United Asset Strategies Inc. lowered its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,744 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 292 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,020,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $134,555,000 after buying an additional 54,261 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 92.3% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,180 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 8,981 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,184,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $315,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,215 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley raised their price target on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James raised their price target on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on 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 issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $209.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $201.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.85. The company has a market cap of $174.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.00 and a 52-week high of $214.91.

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 business had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

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.