CWA Asset Management Group LLC Buys 325 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,816 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 592.9% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.29.

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.4 %

AMAT stock opened at $177.48 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $148.24 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $174.65 and its 200 day moving average is $194.22. The firm has a market cap of $144.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

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.