Hendley & Co. Inc. Purchases 9,757 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Hendley & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,356 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,757 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 1.8% of Hendley & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Hendley & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $37,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped 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 report on Friday, November 29th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. One 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $168.57 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $158.96 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $175.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $183.74. The company has a market cap of $137.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 20.92%.

Applied Materials 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.