Jennison Associates LLC Grows Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,922 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,313 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $27,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.0% during the third quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 5.3% during the third quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 4,259 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $178.56 on Wednesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $145.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $174.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

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.