Brookstone Capital Management Purchases 16,851 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 59.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 45,378 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,851 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 1,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,479 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 178,748 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $29,070,000 after buying an additional 10,081 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 609 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs & Co. CA grew its stake in Applied Materials by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 68,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $11,168,000 after buying an additional 2,690 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $218.24.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $2.79 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $173.65. 3,841,162 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,735,997. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $173.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $192.18. The stock has a market cap of $141.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $149.84 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 previous year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials's dividend 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.