Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Holdings Increased by Zhang Financial LLC

Zhang Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 26.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,171 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after buying an additional 1,894 shares during the quarter. Zhang Financial LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $340,895,000 after purchasing an additional 164,085 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 47.0% during the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 15,183 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $343,138,000 after buying an additional 653,739 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $218.95.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $5.57 during trading on Monday, hitting $192.05. The company had a trading volume of 8,101,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,337,131. The business's 50-day moving average is $173.10 and its 200 day moving average is $190.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market cap of $156.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.78 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.