Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Ridgewood Investments LLC

Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 229.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,497 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,829 shares during the quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $212,000. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.1% in the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 13,637 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $475,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,199,817,000 after purchasing an additional 81,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 27.1% in the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 310,448 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $73,263,000 after purchasing an additional 66,184 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT traded down $6.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $170.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,110,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,383,285. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.48 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.58.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.43.

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.