Swiss National Bank Has $423.96 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Swiss National Bank lowered its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,615,900 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 85,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.31% of Applied Materials worth $423,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Silver Lake Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 30,447 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,934,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,017,147 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $813,129,000 after buying an additional 130,238 shares during the last quarter. Rogco LP lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 108.0% during the 4th quarter. Rogco LP now owns 3,089 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. now owns 2,929 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of AMAT traded up $2.65 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $196.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,135,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,994,008. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $111.72 and a 52-week high of $214.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $203.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.95. The firm has a market cap of $163.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.58.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. B. Riley upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

About Applied Materials

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.