Blue Barn Wealth LLC Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Blue Barn Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,298 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 76.9% during the 3rd 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 purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. L2 Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 795.0% in the third quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 29,606 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 26,298 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $1.54 on Tuesday, reaching $207.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,200,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,937,529. 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 52-week low of $112.86 and a 52-week high of $214.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $204.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.05. The company has a market cap of $172.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup upped their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. 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 report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

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.