Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Buys 1,134 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,996 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $39,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 61.4% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Bank of America cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.24.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.7 %

AMAT stock opened at $178.32 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $173.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.74. 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 $145.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.