Callan Family Office LLC Purchases New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 6,798 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $155.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $149.55 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.