Fulton Bank N.A. Purchases 15,385 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 221.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,321 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,385 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth about $212,000. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 171.1% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 24,749 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,874,000 after buying an additional 15,619 shares in the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $1,881,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its position in Applied Materials by 127.8% during the second quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 52,651 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,425,000 after acquiring an additional 29,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 147,718 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $34,859,000 after acquiring an additional 2,596 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.0 %

AMAT stock traded down $1.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $176.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,680,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,463,180. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $143.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $174.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $193.82. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.24 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.29.

About Applied Materials

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.