Purus Wealth Management LLC Has $577,000 Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Purus Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,549 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. 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 research report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.95.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.0 %

AMAT opened at $192.05 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $173.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $190.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.78 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share 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 $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.