Dohj LLC Invests $393,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Dohj LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,424 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $393,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 149.4% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 444 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 3,075 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $405,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 296,277 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,020,000 after purchasing an additional 3,756 shares during the period. Finally, Jmac Enterprises LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 2,254 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $5.88 on Friday, hitting $203.38. The company had a trading volume of 3,933,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,553,379. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.15 and a 1 year high of $214.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $203.42 and a 200-day moving average of $171.56. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Barclays upped their target price on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.