2,858 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by Ibex Wealth Advisors

Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,858 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $465,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,535 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,063,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Field & Main Bank increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,054,000 after purchasing an additional 4,939 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 252,400 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,048,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target 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. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $175.28 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $174.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $142.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.