Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,318 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 793,610 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $441,514,000 after purchasing an additional 778,716 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after purchasing an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 13,929.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 511,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 117.6% during the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 926,917 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $128,341,000 after purchasing an additional 500,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $6.61 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $198.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,894,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,054,916. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $203.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $172.40. The company has a market capitalization of $165.06 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.59. 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 fifty-two week low of $111.20 and a fifty-two week high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. 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.