Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC Purchases New Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,872 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

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 position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $6.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $204.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,818,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,695,384. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $111.72 and a fifty-two week high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for 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 firm posted $2.03 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.