Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,169 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 341.0% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after buying an additional 2,209,218 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 67.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its position in Applied Materials by 126.6% during the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 1,600,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $260,221,000 after acquiring an additional 893,995 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 87.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $379,275,000 after purchasing an additional 877,133 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased 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 note on Friday, November 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $168.57 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $158.96 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $175.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.92%.

Applied Materials 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.