Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,971 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. State Street Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after acquiring an additional 672,548 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,994,968,000 after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,316,269,000 after purchasing an additional 858,122 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,790,554,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of 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 worth $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $174.57 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.96 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $142.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $174.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.61.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on AMAT. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

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.