AM Squared Ltd Makes New $5.97 Million Investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 36,834 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,970,000. Applied Materials makes up about 12.1% of AM Squared Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,707,000 after buying an additional 9,527 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $22,810,000 after buying an additional 39,194 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $299,267,000 after buying an additional 6,466 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 830,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $114,919,000 after buying an additional 69,388 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 4.3 %

Applied Materials stock traded down $8.91 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $200.57. 3,491,883 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,158,769. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.85. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.12 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The firm has a market cap of $166.65 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

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.