Blue Trust Inc. Grows Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 31.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,006 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,267 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased 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 valued at $340,895,000 after buying an additional 164,085 shares during the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised 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 buying an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 15,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew 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 acquiring an additional 653,739 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 6.5 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $174.57 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $174.00 and its 200-day moving average is $188.61. The stock has a market cap of $142.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Company 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.