West Oak Capital LLC Acquires 535 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

West Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,982 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered 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 note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.24.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $170.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $139.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $149.84 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.18. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio 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.