Impact Investors Inc Takes $622,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Impact Investors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,824 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $622,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, KeyCorp raised 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 report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.38.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.8 %

AMAT opened at $165.54 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $175.53 and a two-hundred day 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.