LSV Asset Management Grows Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,794,715 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 213,987 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned 0.22% of Applied Materials worth $290,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 8,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 2,740 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 17,888 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,899,000 after acquiring an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 892,797 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $144,696,000 after acquiring an additional 33,922 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 578,580 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $93,770,000 after purchasing an additional 67,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 19,430 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,149,000 after purchasing an additional 2,468 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $6.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $204.09. 3,818,510 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,695,384. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $203.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.57. 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. The firm has a market cap of $169.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (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 net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. Research analysts anticipate 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 $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio 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.