Hanson & Doremus Investment Management Grows Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 916 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.0% during the third quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Biltmore Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.3% during the third quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, waypoint wealth counsel increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.1% during the third quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 1,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, 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. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.7 %

AMAT opened at $181.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $174.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced 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 net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 0.88%. Applied Materials’s dividend 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.