LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Has $2.81 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,246 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,536 shares during the quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third 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. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 592.9% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $192.05 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $156.27 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.78 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.95.

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.