Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $1.84 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,367 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 782 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $930,505,000. Cowa LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth $76,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 79,147.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,726,422 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $557,639,000 after buying an additional 5,719,196 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 25.1% during the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 9,609,330 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,388,933,000 after buying an additional 1,925,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 63.9% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,892,930 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $562,685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517,116 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.83.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $206.23 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $190.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock has a market cap of $171.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $109.00 and a fifty-two week high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

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.