Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC

Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,892 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Aldebaran Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $211,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $7,274,000. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after acquiring an additional 11,825 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,130,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001 shares during the period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 132.7% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $205.26 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $203.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.40. The company has a market cap of $170.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $111.20 and a one year high of $214.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71.

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, beating 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

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.