8,078 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by Barlow Wealth Partners Inc.

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,309,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $437,000. Blue Barn Wealth LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $210,000. Simmons Bank raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 6,597 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,494,928 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $728,493,000 after purchasing an additional 66,923 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $207.36. 2,852,099 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,903,545. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $112.86 and a 1-year high of $214.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 15.06%.

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.