Sargent Investment Group LLC Has $209,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sargent Investment Group LLC lessened its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 37.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,290 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 766 shares during the quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 91.0% in the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,614 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 2,198 shares in the last quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,126,000. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 659,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $107,004,000 after buying an additional 34,776 shares during the period. Finally, Dohj LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $393,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.0 %

AMAT stock opened at $203.38 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.15 and a twelve month high of $214.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $203.42 and its 200-day moving average is $171.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Raymond James increased 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. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. 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. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

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.