Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Sfmg LLC

Sfmg LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,086 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 0.8% of Sfmg LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 31.2% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,810,000 after purchasing an additional 39,194 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $299,267,000 after purchasing an additional 6,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 9.1% in the third 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. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded down $7.89 on Wednesday, reaching $201.59. 2,283,198 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,142,852. The firm has a market cap of $167.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 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 quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. The company’s 50-day moving average is $201.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.85.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 15.06%.

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.