Hudock Inc. Has $672,000 Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Hudock Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 21.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 727 shares during the period. Hudock Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Applied Materials by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $340,895,000 after purchasing an additional 164,085 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp lifted its position in Applied Materials by 47.0% in the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 15,183 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Applied Materials by 62.6% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,138,000 after purchasing an additional 653,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Needham & Company LLC cut 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.00.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $180.89 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $175.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $147.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.96 and a 12 month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 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.