Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,691 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,691 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 6,265 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 4,505 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 177,866 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $28,827,000 after buying an additional 31,534 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 11,241 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,822,000 after buying an additional 1,448 shares during the period. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 65.6% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 17,505 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,837,000 after buying an additional 6,937 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley raised their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ AMAT traded up $3.66 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $193.12. The stock had a trading volume of 2,560,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,169,135. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.15 and a 1 year high of $214.91. The stock has a market cap of $160.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $202.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.38. 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 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.