1,471 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Bought by Connecticut Wealth Management LLC

Connecticut Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 1,471 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. Sycomore Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after buying an additional 11,825 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after buying an additional 9,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,130,000 after buying an additional 6,001 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.0 %

AMAT stock traded up $4.09 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $208.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,653,648 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,945,694. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.86 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $203.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.01. The firm has a market cap of $172.98 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

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.