Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys 5,038 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,347 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,038 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 76.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. L2 Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $41,000 after buying an additional 26,298 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $4.77 during trading on Monday, hitting $208.86. The stock had a trading volume of 3,637,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,968,247. The firm has a market cap of $173.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.86 and a 12 month high of $214.91. The business’s 50-day moving average is $204.00 and its 200 day moving average is $174.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley upped their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James lifted their target price 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, Bank Of America (Bofa) lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

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.