Cambiar Investors LLC Has $24.01 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cambiar Investors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,661 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,426 shares during the period. Cambiar Investors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $24,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $272,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $144,000. Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,076 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,403,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 20,236 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.0 %

AMAT stock opened at $183.66 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $158.96 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $149.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.33, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s 50-day moving average is $175.19 and its 200 day moving average is $185.17.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials 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.