PFG Investments LLC Has $502,000 Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 356 shares during the quarter. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,274,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 31.2% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,810,000 after buying an additional 39,194 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.3% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $299,267,000 after buying an additional 6,466 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 9.1% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 830,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $114,919,000 after buying an additional 69,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth $433,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $208.00 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.58. The stock has a market cap of $172.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.00 and a 1 year high of $214.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 15.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.83.

Applied Materials Company 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.