Professional Financial Advisors LLC Invests $229,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Professional Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,415 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 11,492 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after acquiring an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 9,578 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,552,000 after buying an additional 1,817 shares in the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $221,000. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 3,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sandy Cove Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays increased their target price on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Raymond James increased their price target on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.83.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock traded down $2.49 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $205.51. 2,503,172 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,516,669. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.00 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The business’s 50-day moving average is $189.26 and its 200-day moving average is $161.58.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 15.06%.

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.