Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 275 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,940 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $963,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after buying an additional 9,527 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,810,000 after buying an additional 39,194 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Applied Materials by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $299,267,000 after buying an additional 6,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Applied Materials by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 830,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $114,919,000 after buying an additional 69,388 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock traded up $3.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $209.48. 3,748,179 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,197,840. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $200.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.00 and a 52 week high of $214.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.06 billion, a PE ratio of 24.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

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.