Park National Corp OH Boosts Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Park National Corp OH grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 27.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,355 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 294 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lantz Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $212,000. MGO One Seven LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 13,637 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,218,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.9% during the second quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,020 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. STAR Financial Bank raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.8% during the second quarter. STAR Financial Bank now owns 2,052 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $475,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price 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. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.29.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $176.99 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.24 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.