Caprock Group LLC Has $3.23 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,844 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its stake in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 592.9% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $180.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $146.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year 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. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.89%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Applied Materials Company 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.