1,674 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC

Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 60.8% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 608 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 11,935 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,414,000 after buying an additional 2,175 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 63.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 344.7% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 20,945 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,232,000 after buying an additional 16,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 14.6% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,013 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $183.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.04. The company has a market capitalization of $148.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.00.

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.