Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Buys 239 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,466 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $152.13 on Tuesday. 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 $150.67 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $175.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.35. The company has a market capitalization of $123.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid 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 1.05%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.92%.

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.