PCG Asset Management LLC Takes $482,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

PCG Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,965 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $482,000.

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

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock 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 target for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $158.07 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.95 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.90.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 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.