Four Tree Island Advisory LLC Invests $9.40 Million in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Four Tree Island Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 57,819 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,403,000. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 6.5% of Four Tree Island Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,011 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,821,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 25.7% in the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 134,354 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,146,000 after acquiring an additional 27,427 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 144,836 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $29,264,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 134,559 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $27,189,000 after purchasing an additional 22,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 3,889 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $180.00 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $146.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.32.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given 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.