Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Rothschild Investment LLC

Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,397 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $165.54 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.53 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

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.