Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Purchases 245 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,582 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kaizen Financial Strategies lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.6% in the third quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 1,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the third quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,343 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust co increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% during the third quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 28,027 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $200.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.15 and a 52-week high of $214.91. The firm has a market cap of $166.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $203.34 and its 200 day moving average is $171.12.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.