Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Acquires 1,444 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 40.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,982 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,444 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,389,048,000 after purchasing an additional 456,865 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.0% during 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $1,514,814,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,017,147 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $813,129,000 after acquiring an additional 130,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 230,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Monday, May 13th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James increased their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.64.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $219.80 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $120.18 and a 12-month high of $221.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $205.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $182.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.58.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.54 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.71%.

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.