First Pacific Financial Invests $163,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

First Pacific Financial acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $163,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after acquiring an additional 672,548 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after acquiring an additional 371,866 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,316,269,000 after acquiring an additional 858,122 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,790,554,000 after acquiring an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.41.

Applied Materials Trading Up 4.5 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $186.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $151.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.20 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $173.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.65.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

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.