Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Acquired by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 51.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 28,122 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,610 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 14.9% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 11,927 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 3,931 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 64.5% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,177 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,346,000 after purchasing an additional 5,561 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 137,188 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,375,000 after purchasing an additional 11,535 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Applied Materials by 0.5% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 410,705 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $96,923,000 after buying an additional 2,222 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.95.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $192.05 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $173.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.78 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.