Sargent Investment Group LLC Has $209,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sargent Investment Group LLC reduced its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 37.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,290 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 766 shares during the quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $209,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 76.9% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $39,000. L2 Asset Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 795.0% during the third quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 29,606 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 26,298 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Raymond James lifted 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. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $203.38 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $203.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.15 and a 52 week high of $214.91. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.82%.

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.