Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Reduces Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 28.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 623 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $211,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,274,000. Sycomore Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after acquiring an additional 11,825 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,130,000 after acquiring an additional 6,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 9,527 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Barclays raised their price target on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.0 %

AMAT opened at $203.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $168.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50 day moving average of $203.42 and a 200-day moving average of $171.77. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.15 and a 52 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. Equities research analysts predict 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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost 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 0.79%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 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.