Greenleaf Trust Boosts Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,498 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. State Street Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 0.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,434,684 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,720,928,000 after purchasing an additional 301,010 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,389,048,000 after acquiring an additional 456,865 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 worth $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 25.1% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 9,609,330 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,388,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $930,505,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $4.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $189.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,493,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,204,208. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.24. The stock has a market cap of $157.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.15 and a 52 week high of $214.91.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.06%.

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.