Woodstock Corp Increases Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Woodstock Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,189 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the quarter. Woodstock Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Merriman Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 4.0% in the second quarter. Merriman Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,438 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.0% during the third 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 boosted its position 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 valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, waypoint wealth counsel increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 1,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.41.

Applied Materials Trading Up 4.5 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $186.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $173.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.65. The company has a market capitalization of $151.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $150.20 and a 52 week high of $255.89. 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $7.05 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. 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.