Principle Wealth Partners LLC Has $500,000 Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 25.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,076 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.00.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $183.20 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $175.20 and a 200-day moving average of $185.04. 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 stock has a market cap of $148.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.