Chase Investment Counsel Corp Buys 75 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,427 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $717,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho upped their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $0.73 on Monday, reaching $204.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,047,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,059,403. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $111.20 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The company has a market capitalization of $169.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.98.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.