Delta Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Delta Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 25.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,609 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 524 shares during the quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 149.4% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 444 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 86.3% during the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 3,075 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter worth about $405,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 296,277 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $41,020,000 after purchasing an additional 3,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jmac Enterprises LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.6% during the third quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 2,254 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.0 %

AMAT stock traded up $5.88 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $203.38. The stock had a trading volume of 3,933,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,553,379. The firm has a market cap of $168.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.15 and a 52-week high of $214.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $203.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 0.79%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

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.