Albert D Mason Inc. Purchases 136 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Albert D Mason Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,572 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 592.9% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen cut their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.41.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $192.05 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $173.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $156.78 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given 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 yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

About Applied Materials

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.