New Millennium Group LLC Buys 5,544 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

New Millennium Group LLC raised its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 34,650.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,560 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,544 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Custom Index Systems LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $372,000. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 19,844 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,227,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the period. Integris Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Integris Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 35,441 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,764,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $180.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.