Congress Asset Management Co. Takes $991,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,092 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $991,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 592.9% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $4.03 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The firm 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. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company's 50 day moving average price is $175.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.92.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $215.38.

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.