Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 12,061 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 168,167 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,061 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $27,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 32.1% in the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,688 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,626 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 55,149 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $11,142,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,726,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,352 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $155.68 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $173.96 and its 200 day moving average is $180.81. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $149.55 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $126.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.