Caitlin John LLC Acquires 98 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Caitlin John LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,736 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 1.6% of Caitlin John LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Caitlin John LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.5% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 168,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $34,079,000 after purchasing an additional 10,331 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $440,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.8% in the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 7,641 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $180.67 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $146.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $174.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.92.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released 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 business had revenue of $7.05 billion for 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 revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 0.89%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Morgan Stanley restated 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. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.