Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stake Increased by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 20,342.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 736,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 733,137 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Applied Materials worth $119,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Trading Down 7.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $156.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $127.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $175.49 and its 200-day moving average is $183.27. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.38 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

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.