Guinness Asset Management LTD Buys 47,245 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 27.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 217,678 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,245 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $35,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 341.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,218 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 67.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $942,187,000 after buying an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $280,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 877,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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, November 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.95.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $192.05 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.78 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $173.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $156.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

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.