Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 123,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,946 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $19,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kaizen Financial Strategies lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Redwood Financial Network Corp lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 4.6% during the third quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 1,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,343 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Glenview Trust co raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 28,027 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,880,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $3.78 on Tuesday, reaching $193.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,417,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,192,854. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.15 and a 1-year high of $214.91. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $202.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.76. The firm has a market cap of $160.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

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.