KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC Buys 1,939 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,239 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,939 shares during the quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $7,841,178,000 after acquiring an additional 672,548 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.7% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $5.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $191.80. The company had a trading volume of 4,803,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,109,546. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.78 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm's 50 day moving average is $173.25 and its 200-day moving average is $191.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America lowered 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 note on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.41.

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.