Calamos Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,276 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in Applied Materials by 0.6% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted 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 valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,259 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $860,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $178.80 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.96 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $174.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.41. The firm has a market cap of $145.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. 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 results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. 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 0.89%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.