Oak Thistle LLC Takes $1.58 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 9,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,583,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after buying an additional 672,548 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 371,866 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,316,269,000 after acquiring an additional 858,122 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 29.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ AMAT traded up $4.67 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $178.32. 5,906,120 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,757,479. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.84 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $173.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $218.24.

Applied Materials 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.