Versor Investments LP Has $1.64 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Versor Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 229.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,076 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,022 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the third 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 raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% during 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,316,269,000 after buying an additional 858,122 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 318,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,655,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,082,353,000 after buying an additional 84,130 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AMAT. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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 report on Friday, November 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $168.51 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $175.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $158.96 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio 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.