Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Buys 399 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,998 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 399 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.5% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 168,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $34,079,000 after acquiring an additional 10,331 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,139 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 190.3% during the 3rd quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 8,859 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after buying an additional 5,807 shares in the last quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 9.3% in the third quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 20.7% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 11,870 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,398,000 after acquiring an additional 2,034 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on AMAT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $178.80 on Tuesday. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.41. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $145.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Applied Materials’s 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.