Summit Global Investments Grows Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Summit Global Investments raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,888 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 892,797 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $144,696,000 after purchasing an additional 33,922 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 578,580 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $93,770,000 after acquiring an additional 67,018 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 19,430 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,149,000 after acquiring an additional 2,468 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 303,999 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $49,269,000 after acquiring an additional 5,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Lake Advisory LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 30,447 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,934,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $6.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $204.09. The company had a trading volume of 3,817,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,996,778. The firm has a market cap of $169.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.58. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $111.72 and a 1-year high of $214.91. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $203.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis 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.