Wedmont Private Capital Purchases 166 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,610 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.24.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $170.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.84 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $139.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $173.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.18.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Applied Materials Company 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.