Providence Capital Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 33,800 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,497,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,588,422,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $2,696,000. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in Applied Materials by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 83,064 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $13,509,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 17,476 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $399,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Remove Ads

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.67.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.2 %

AMAT traded down $1.69 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $143.37. 2,053,274 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,259,794. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.23 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $116.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $167.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.84.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.05%.

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.