Atomi Financial Group Inc. Purchases 783 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,452 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 783 shares during the quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 13,125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 138.8% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 154,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,121,000 after acquiring an additional 89,791 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,094 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $666,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,965 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sky Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $458,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities 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 on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $195.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $159.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $173.29 and a 200 day moving average of $189.87.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 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 given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Applied Materials’s dividend 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.