Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Raises Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 303,999 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,446 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $49,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Applied Materials by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,389,048,000 after purchasing an additional 456,865 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,383,848,000 after buying an additional 570,080 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,017,147 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $813,129,000 after buying an additional 130,238 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,968,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $687,936,000 after buying an additional 230,789 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,838,268 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $622,068,000 after acquiring an additional 308,579 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock traded up $6.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $204.09. The company had a trading volume of 3,818,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,695,384. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $111.72 and a one year high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted 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. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.