Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Buys 254 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 135,208 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $21,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 341.0% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,218 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 67.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after buying an additional 1,884,153 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $280,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $379,275,000 after purchasing an additional 877,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $186.75 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.96 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $173.64 and a 200-day moving average of $189.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $151.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.