Eagle Capital Management LLC Purchases 290 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,004 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 290 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up 1.0% of Eagle Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Eagle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 70.9% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 31,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,526,000 after acquiring an additional 13,234 shares during the last quarter. AlTi Global Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 65.8% during the second quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 13,924 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,286,000 after purchasing an additional 5,524 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,490,874 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $351,831,000 after purchasing an additional 117,793 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 2.2% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 259,548 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $61,619,000 after acquiring an additional 5,488 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 13.9% during the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $708,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.4 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $195.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $159.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $158.96 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $173.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $189.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.