IFP Advisors Inc Raises Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,629 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,652 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,841,178,000 after buying an additional 672,548 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,316,269,000 after purchasing an additional 858,122 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,790,554,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,655,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,082,353,000 after purchasing an additional 84,130 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $168.57 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $175.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.74. The company has a market capitalization of $137.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

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.