EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Increases Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 70.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,621 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,375 shares during the quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,528,961,000 after acquiring an additional 487,358 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 672,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% in the third 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% during the third 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 valued at $1,790,554,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Barclays decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $154.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $125.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.68. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.37 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.