Hendley & Co. Inc. Has $5.10 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Hendley & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 45.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,356 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,757 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up 1.8% of Hendley & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Hendley & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. State Street Corp increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after buying an additional 672,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,994,968,000 after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,316,269,000 after purchasing an additional 858,122 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,790,554,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,655,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,082,353,000 after buying an additional 84,130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup raised their price target on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $168.57 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 20.92%.

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.