Jacobs & Co. CA Increases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Jacobs & Co. CA raised its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 68,673 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,690 shares during the quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 81,220 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,209,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 97,007 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,776,000 after acquiring an additional 13,272 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 229.6% in the fourth quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 5,497 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $894,000 after acquiring an additional 3,829 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 392.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 443 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 221.8% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 22,321 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,630,000 after acquiring an additional 15,385 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $4.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $172.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,449,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,611,639. The business has a fifty day moving average of $174.14 and a 200-day moving average of $193.58. The stock has a market cap of $140.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.48 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials 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.