Bank of Jackson Hole Trust Purchases New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $589,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,125,014 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $182,961,000 after buying an additional 4,849 shares during the last quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 75,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $12,244,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 74.0% during the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 42,644 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $6,935,000 after purchasing an additional 18,130 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 3,039 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 52,789 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $8,585,000 after buying an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America cut their target price 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. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock traded down $4.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $171.98. 7,364,128 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,722,227. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.53. The business's 50-day moving average is $175.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.96 and a 12 month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

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.