Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Invests $1.31 Million in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,309,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,480,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $343,464,000 after acquiring an additional 793,610 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $441,514,000 after buying an additional 778,716 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 142.4% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,140,314 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $176,029,000 after buying an additional 669,898 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,383,848,000 after buying an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 13,929.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 515,028 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $834,710,000 after acquiring an additional 511,357 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $207.36. 2,852,099 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,903,545. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $204.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.05. The firm has a market cap of $172.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.86 and a 1-year high of $214.91. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s 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.