Vestor Capital LLC Has $81,000 Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Vestor Capital LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 30.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Vestor Capital LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $81,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,389,048,000 after purchasing an additional 456,865 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,383,848,000 after buying an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,017,147 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $813,129,000 after acquiring an additional 130,238 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 230,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,494,928 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $728,493,000 after purchasing an additional 66,923 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $1.03 on Thursday, hitting $206.33. The stock had a trading volume of 2,758,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,869,017. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $171.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $204.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.28. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.91 and a twelve month high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James upped their price target on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

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.