Concord Wealth Partners Has $1.22 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Concord Wealth Partners lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 126.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,538 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,205 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,389,048,000 after purchasing an additional 456,865 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Applied Materials by 6.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after buying an additional 570,080 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,968,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $687,936,000 after buying an additional 230,789 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Applied Materials by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,838,268 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $622,068,000 after purchasing an additional 308,579 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,831,986 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $458,980,000 after purchasing an additional 351,206 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $1.54 on Wednesday, hitting $200.19. The stock had a trading volume of 2,742,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,014,277. 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 one year low of $111.20 and a one year high of $214.91. The stock has a market cap of $166.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.81.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results 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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.