J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Purchases 450 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,962 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 9,527 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 31.2% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,810,000 after acquiring an additional 39,194 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $299,267,000 after acquiring an additional 6,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.1% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 830,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $114,919,000 after acquiring an additional 69,388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT traded down $4.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $189.77. 6,495,228 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,179,863. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.15 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $202.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

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.