Venturi Wealth Management LLC Increases Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,381 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,912 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 29.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Applied Materials by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $340,895,000 after acquiring an additional 164,085 shares in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its stake in Applied Materials by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,722,000 after acquiring an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 15,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,138,000 after purchasing an additional 653,739 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Barclays reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $216.10.

Applied Materials Stock Down 8.2 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $169.20 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $175.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $158.96 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $137.51 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business 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 0.95%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.