Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,376 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 612 shares during the period. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,810,000 after buying an additional 39,194 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $299,267,000 after acquiring an additional 6,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 9.1% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 830,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $114,919,000 after acquiring an additional 69,388 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded up $3.00 on Tuesday, hitting $208.68. 1,903,384 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,170,413. The company has a market capitalization of $173.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $200.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.34. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.00 and a 52-week high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

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.