Smith Salley Wealth Management Has $217,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,334 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 341.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,209,218 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 67.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $942,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% during the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $379,275,000 after buying an additional 877,133 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.95.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $192.05 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $173.10 and a 200-day moving average of $190.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.78 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $156.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.