Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Holdings Raised by TCG Advisory Services LLC

TCG Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 510.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,013 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,209 shares during the period. TCG Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,480,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,464,000 after purchasing an additional 793,610 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $441,514,000 after acquiring an additional 778,716 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 13,929.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 515,028 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $834,710,000 after acquiring an additional 511,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 117.6% during the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 926,917 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $128,341,000 after acquiring an additional 500,900 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. TD Cowen increased their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley increased their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT traded up $6.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $204.09. The company had a trading volume of 3,818,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,695,384. The company’s 50-day moving average is $203.89 and its 200-day moving average is $173.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $111.72 and a twelve month high of $214.91. The company has a market capitalization of $169.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.58. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.