Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp Buys 68 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,455 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. CWM LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 62,913 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,711,000 after purchasing an additional 22,646 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.1% in the third quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 45,649 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,801 shares in the last quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the third quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 6,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth $236,000. Finally, JGP Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 10.1% in the third quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays dropped 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 note on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.5 %

AMAT opened at $180.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $175.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.86.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. 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.