Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $3.15 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,430 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,468 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 76.9% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. L2 Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 795.0% during the 3rd quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 29,606 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 26,298 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $2.69 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $196.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,223,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,994,969. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $111.72 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. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.95. The company has a market cap of $163.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.58.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

About Applied Materials

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.