Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp Purchases 815 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp boosted its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,242 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the period. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT traded down $5.57 during trading on Thursday, hitting $194.32. 6,217,574 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,200,348. The company has a market cap of $161.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.06. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.12 and a 1 year high of $214.91. 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 posted its 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. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.