Agate Pass Investment Management LLC Has $1.03 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Agate Pass Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,335 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 7.7% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 16,909 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,790 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,474 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,787,000 after buying an additional 5,626 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,151,487 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $271,739,000 after acquiring an additional 19,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 14.4% in the second quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 2,785 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.24.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $171.00. 1,607,807 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,441,436. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.84 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

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.