Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $16.32 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,371 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,113 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $16,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $340,895,000 after purchasing an additional 164,085 shares in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 15,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,138,000 after buying an additional 653,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $182.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $148.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.96 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $174.86 and its 200-day moving average is $185.88.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Applied Materials 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.