Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC Has $3.31 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,455 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,848 shares during the quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 18,006 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,928,000 after buying an additional 4,267 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 9,801 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 5,163 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 67,341 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $10,952,000 after purchasing an additional 7,352 shares during the period. Finally, Stablepoint Partners LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 6,698 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.1 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $186.75 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $151.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $158.96 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.