Carmel Capital Partners LLC Buys 4,924 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 82.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,882 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,924 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up 0.7% of Carmel Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Carmel Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $182,962,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 238,593 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $38,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 701.5% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 26,866 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,369,000 after acquiring an additional 23,514 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,530 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 45,469 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,395,000 after acquiring an additional 1,757 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $155.32 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $149.55 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $174.50 and its 200 day moving average is $181.78.

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, beating 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%. Research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

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.