Somerset Trust Co Boosts Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Somerset Trust Co increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 30.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,096 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the quarter. Somerset Trust Co’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in 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 worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Merriman Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 5.3% during the third quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, waypoint wealth counsel grew its position in Applied Materials by 3.1% during the third quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 1,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.41.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $192.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.78 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.61.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for 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%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio 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.