Aviance Capital Partners LLC Has $1.04 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,390 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Swedbank AB grew its position in Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. M&G PLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 72.4% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 16,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,264,000 after acquiring an additional 6,786 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 1,262 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 7,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $155.68 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.55 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 20.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.