Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,270 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 51,582 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,360,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $1,211,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 520.4% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,350 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 2,810 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 123,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,942,000 after buying an additional 1,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $598,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. B. Riley raised their price target on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $196.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,901,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,118,794. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $109.15 and a one 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $203.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.59.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change 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.