Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Buys 1,997 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 26.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,517 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,997 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas increased its position in Applied Materials by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 6,265 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 4,505 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $730,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 177,866 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $28,827,000 after purchasing an additional 31,534 shares during the period. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 11,241 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $0.67 on Wednesday, hitting $193.91. The company had a trading volume of 2,014,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,139,839. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.15 and a 1 year high of $214.91. 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 50 day moving average of $202.94 and a 200-day moving average of $170.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

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.