Apollon Wealth Management LLC Acquires 6,502 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 35.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 24,697 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,502 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 2.3 %

AMAT stock traded up $4.77 during trading on Monday, reaching $208.86. 3,637,820 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,968,247. The company has a market capitalization of $173.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.86 and a 12 month high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 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.