Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC Has $99,000 Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 18.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 609 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $99,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 341.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after buying an additional 2,209,218 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 67.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,153 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Applied Materials by 262.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $280,951,000 after buying an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $379,275,000 after purchasing an additional 877,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT traded down $5.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $171.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,913,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,662,545. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.48 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $139.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $174.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

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.