Krilogy Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Krilogy Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 24.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,388 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,784 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,457 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 8,762 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $302,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Applied Materials by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 10,588 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, InTrack Investment Management Inc bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $567,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. Barclays lowered 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 note on Friday. 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, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.95.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $192.05 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $173.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.30. The firm has a market cap of $156.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $156.78 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 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 issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

About Applied Materials

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.