Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC Acquires 273 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,517 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 273 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mechanics Financial Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Kaizen Financial Strategies grew its position in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 1,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,427 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $717,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI began coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $207.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,851,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,903,545. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $204.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $112.86 and a one year high of $214.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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 return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. 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 is presently 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.