Cooper Financial Group Increases Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cooper Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 28.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 859 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Lyell Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% in the second quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 1,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 88.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 61,346 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,477,000 after purchasing an additional 28,835 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 91,056 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $21,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares during the period. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at about $337,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target 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. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.24.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $170.86 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $173.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.18. The company has a market capitalization of $139.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $149.84 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Applied Materials Company 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.