Vestor Capital LLC Purchases 118 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Vestor Capital LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 30.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $81,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mechanics Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,496 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.6% during the third quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 1,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT traded down $1.03 on Thursday, hitting $206.33. 2,758,180 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,869,017. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $113.91 and a fifty-two week high of $214.91. The stock has a market cap of $171.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $204.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.28. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for 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 was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. B. Riley raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 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 assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

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.