Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Buys 2,895 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 50.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,666 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,895 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $172.85 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $140.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $174.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.14. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

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.