POM Investment Strategies LLC Purchases New Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 884 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $144,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective 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 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.0 %

AMAT opened at $183.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.17.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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 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 dividend yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend 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.