Veridan Wealth LLC Takes $386,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Veridan Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,157 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $156.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $127.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $175.49 and its 200-day moving average is $183.27. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.38 and a 1-year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 20.92%.

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.