Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.80 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 240.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,094 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,836 shares during the quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $698,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 19.7% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 3,294 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $241,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 11.3% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 9,045 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,828,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced 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 note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $171.98 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $139.77 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $175.64 and a 200-day moving average of $183.90. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 given 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 yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.92%.

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.