686 Shares in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Purchased by Hills Bank & Trust Co

Hills Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 686 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $111,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,480,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,464,000 after buying an additional 793,610 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $441,514,000 after buying an additional 778,716 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 142.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,140,314 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $176,029,000 after purchasing an additional 669,898 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 13,929.6% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 515,028 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $834,710,000 after buying an additional 511,357 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $1.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $206.33. 2,758,180 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,869,017. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $113.91 and a 12 month high of $214.91. The stock has a market cap of $171.44 billion, a PE ratio of 24.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.28.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.82%.

Applied Materials Company 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.