Sheets Smith Wealth Management Has $11.71 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4,048.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,219 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,478 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up 1.4% of Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $211,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,274,000. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after buying an additional 11,825 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,130,000 after buying an additional 6,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 132.7% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,707,000 after buying an additional 9,527 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $6.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $204.09. 3,818,510 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,695,384. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $203.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.01. The company has a market cap of $169.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $111.72 and a twelve month high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.