U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Has $973,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,982 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 859 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 592.9% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $178.56 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $174.56 and its 200-day moving average is $186.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. 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 announced its 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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS 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. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

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.