Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Davidson Capital Management Inc.

Davidson Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 39,811.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,960 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,915 shares during the quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Applied Materials by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $340,895,000 after purchasing an additional 164,085 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 15,183 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,138,000 after buying an additional 653,739 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.00.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock opened at $183.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.04. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $158.96 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $148.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 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.