Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Has $751,000 Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 27.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,634 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,723 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,480,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,464,000 after purchasing an additional 793,610 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $441,514,000 after buying an additional 778,716 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after buying an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 13,929.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 515,028 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $834,710,000 after buying an additional 511,357 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 117.6% during the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 926,917 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $128,341,000 after acquiring an additional 500,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.2 %

AMAT stock opened at $189.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $157.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $202.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.38. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.15 and a 1-year high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

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.