Concord Wealth Partners Buys 4,205 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 126.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,538 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 4,205 shares during the quarter. Concord Wealth Partners' holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.7% during the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,618 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $165,000. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 39.5% in the third quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,393 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 22.9% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,460 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.6% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 105,522 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $14,609,000 after acquiring an additional 4,683 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $4.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $193.99. The stock had a trading volume of 5,812,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,052,121. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.59. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $111.20 and a 1-year high of $214.91. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $203.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS 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 $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AMAT. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" 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 report on Tuesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. B. Riley raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.50.

About Applied Materials

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.