Proficio Capital Partners LLC Has $119.82 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 20,342.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 736,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 733,137 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $119,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after acquiring an additional 108,827 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 23.8% in the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 13.8% in the third quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 1,475 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 50.7% in the third quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,813 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burr Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% in the third quarter. Burr Financial Services LLC now owns 38,345 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,748,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $156.67 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.38 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $175.49 and a 200-day moving average of $183.27.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.92%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.