Verde Capital Management Makes New $493,000 Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Verde Capital Management bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,029 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $493,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Red Door Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $262,000. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 148,794 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $24,198,000 after buying an additional 3,958 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma now owns 11,636 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,892,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 116,873 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,007,000 after acquiring an additional 16,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $2,156,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $190.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $173.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $158.96 and a 52 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

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.