Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,801 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $340,895,000 after buying an additional 164,085 shares during the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% during the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,722,000 after buying an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 15,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 62.6% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $343,138,000 after acquiring an additional 653,739 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Trading Down 6.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $174.57 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $174.00 and a 200-day moving average of $188.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $142.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

About Applied Materials

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.