William Allan Corp Increases Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

William Allan Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 48,568 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for 4.9% of William Allan Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. William Allan Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 7,641 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 30.0% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 28,527 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,764,000 after purchasing an additional 6,586 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 62,913 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,711,000 after purchasing an additional 22,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 10,444 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,090,000 after buying an additional 860 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.2 %

AMAT opened at $182.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $174.86 and its 200 day moving average is $185.88.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 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.