Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 93 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,059 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,020,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $134,555,000 after purchasing an additional 54,261 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 92.3% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,180 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 1,526 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 21.7% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 8,981 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $315,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 12.6% in the first quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,215 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $209.48 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.85. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $109.00 and a one year high of $214.91. The firm has a market cap of $174.06 billion, a PE ratio of 24.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Citigroup upped their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.