Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Sycomore Asset Management

Sycomore Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 55.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,825 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for 1.2% of Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 132.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,130,000 after buying an additional 6,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 31.2% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. B. Riley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $2.82 on Wednesday, reaching $196.06. 4,605,773 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,173,302. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.15 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 firm has a market cap of $162.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $203.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.93.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.03 EPS. 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.82%.

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.