Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,254 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,106 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Argent Trust Co raised its position in Applied Materials by 28.4% in the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 12,119 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 2,682 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 717.5% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 140,633 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,188,000 after purchasing an additional 123,431 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,069,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,528,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,340,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays raised Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.00.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $188.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $201.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.55. The company has a market capitalization of $156.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.