Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,601 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Biltmore Family Office LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. waypoint wealth counsel grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 1,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,259 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $860,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on AMAT shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, 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 report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $186.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $151.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $158.96 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $174.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.50. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.