Dohj LLC Invests $393,000 in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Dohj LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,424 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $393,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 149.4% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 444 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 3,075 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $405,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 296,277 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,020,000 after purchasing an additional 3,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jmac Enterprises LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 2,254 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $5.88 on Friday, hitting $203.38. 3,933,453 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,553,379. 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 current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $203.42 and a 200-day moving average of $171.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $109.15 and a fifty-two week high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. One research 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, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.