Hardy Reed LLC Boosts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Hardy Reed LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,253 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the quarter. Hardy Reed LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,180,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 592.9% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 61.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.2 %

AMAT stock opened at $174.06 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $141.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.96 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $175.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.05.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

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.