Fourpath Capital Management LLC Has $1.54 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fourpath Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,493 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,179 shares during the quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after acquiring an additional 672,548 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,994,968,000 after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,316,269,000 after purchasing an additional 858,122 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,790,554,000 after buying an additional 318,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho lowered 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, January 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $178.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $145.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.96 and a 12 month high of $255.89. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $174.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.41.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. 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.