Beta Wealth Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Beta Wealth Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,300 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $374,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock traded down $4.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $171.98. The stock had a trading volume of 7,364,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,722,227. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock's 50 day moving average is $175.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.92. The stock has a market cap of $139.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 20.92%.

Applied Materials Company 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.