Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors Makes New $214,000 Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,318 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $211,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,274,000. Sycomore Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 11,825 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,130,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 9,527 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $6.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $198.65. The stock had a trading volume of 3,894,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,054,916. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $111.20 and a 1-year high of $214.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.40. The company has a market cap of $165.06 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.06%.

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.