Kingsview Wealth Management LLC Acquires 318 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,309 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.9% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,011 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,821,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 134,354 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,146,000 after buying an additional 27,427 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 144,836 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $29,264,000 after buying an additional 2,370 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its stake in Applied Materials by 20.3% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 134,559 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,189,000 after acquiring an additional 22,716 shares during the period. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.1% during the third quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,889 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho dropped 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, January 10th. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.5 %

AMAT stock opened at $180.00 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.