Chase Investment Counsel Corp Acquires 75 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,427 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. L2 Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 795.0% during the 3rd quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 29,606 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 26,298 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $204.11. 1,047,178 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,059,403. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.59 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $111.20 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $203.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.98.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.06%.

Applied Materials Company 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.