Flossbach Von Storch AG Has $3.37 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Flossbach Von Storch AG lessened its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 88.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,798 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 153,615 shares during the quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,434,684 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,720,928,000 after purchasing an additional 301,010 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,389,048,000 after acquiring an additional 456,865 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 25.1% during the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 9,609,330 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,388,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925,722 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $930,505,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AMAT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $4.34 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $195.55. 1,237,769 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,129,296. The company has a market capitalization of $162.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.12 and a 1-year high of $214.91. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $202.12 and a 200 day moving average of $169.06.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.06%.

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.