Eastern Bank Buys 387 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Eastern Bank increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 120,742 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $19,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 4,906 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 3,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 10,610 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,821,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 117,361 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,086,000 after buying an additional 5,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Agate Pass Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 6,335 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $170.70. 3,077,630 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,642,939. The stock has a market cap of $138.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $149.84 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $173.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $192.62.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. Citigroup cut their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna cut their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.24.

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.