LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Purchases 2,536 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMATFree Report) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,536 shares during the quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 11,927 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,815,000 after buying an additional 1,549 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in Applied Materials by 7.6% during the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 3,931 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 64.5% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,177 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,346,000 after acquiring an additional 5,561 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 137,188 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,375,000 after acquiring an additional 11,535 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 410,705 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $96,923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.95.

View Our Latest Report on Applied Materials

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.0 %

AMAT opened at $192.05 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.78 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $190.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMATGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)

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