Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC Has $516,000 Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 447 shares during the period. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $516,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Plan Group Financial LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 2,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $589,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,125,014 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $182,961,000 after acquiring an additional 4,849 shares during the period. Callahan Advisors LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 75,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,244,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 74.0% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 42,644 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,935,000 after acquiring an additional 18,130 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. KeyCorp raised 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, January 17th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $172.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.12. 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 stock has a market cap of $139.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 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.