Everpar Advisors LLC Buys New Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $872,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,389,048,000 after buying an additional 456,865 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after buying an additional 570,080 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,017,147 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $813,129,000 after buying an additional 130,238 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,968,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $687,936,000 after buying an additional 230,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,494,928 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $728,493,000 after buying an additional 66,923 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of AMAT traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $207.36. The company had a trading volume of 2,851,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,903,545. The company has a market capitalization of $172.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $112.86 and a one year high of $214.91. The company's fifty day moving average price is $204.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.05.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

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