Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Has $11.81 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 32.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 72,592 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,769 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $168.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $136.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $158.96 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $175.59 and its 200-day moving average is $183.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 20.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AMAT. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

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.