Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Foundations Investment Advisors LLC

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 50.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,666 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,895 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Applied Materials by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $340,895,000 after purchasing an additional 164,085 shares in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% in the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,722,000 after buying an additional 21,699 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 15,183 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $343,138,000 after buying an additional 653,739 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $172.85 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $158.96 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

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.