Summit Financial Strategies Inc. Has $866,000 Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Summit Financial Strategies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,327 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 341.0% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,218 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 67.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $942,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,153 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Applied Materials by 262.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $280,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $379,275,000 after purchasing an additional 877,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $186.75 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $174.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.61. The stock has a market cap of $151.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

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.