SYM FINANCIAL Corp Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,236 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,389,048,000 after buying an additional 456,865 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 6.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,017,147 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $813,129,000 after purchasing an additional 130,238 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,968,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $687,936,000 after purchasing an additional 230,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Applied Materials by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,838,268 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $622,068,000 after buying an additional 308,579 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock traded up $6.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $204.09. 3,818,510 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,695,384. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $111.72 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The company has a market capitalization of $169.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.58. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost 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 0.78%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. B. Riley increased their price target on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. 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. Mizuho lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

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.