Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 956 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 520.4% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,350 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 2,810 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 123,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,946 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $598,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,517 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $274,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $3.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $193.24. 4,417,284 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,192,854. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $109.15 and a one year high of $214.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $202.94 and its 200 day moving average is $170.76.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

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.