Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Acquires 6,800 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 328,262 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,800 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $53,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $340,895,000 after buying an additional 164,085 shares in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 47.0% during the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,722,000 after buying an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 15,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $343,138,000 after acquiring an additional 653,739 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on AMAT shares. KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.8 %

AMAT stock opened at $168.51 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $175.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.46. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $136.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.