Flputnam Investment Management Co. Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,818 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 807 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,020,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $134,555,000 after acquiring an additional 54,261 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 92.3% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,180 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 1,526 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 21.7% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 8,981 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $315,000. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 12.6% in the first quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 2,215 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ AMAT traded up $1.57 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $207.25. The stock had a trading volume of 322,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,149,999. The company has a market capitalization of $172.20 billion, a PE ratio of 24.29, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.00 and a twelve month high of $214.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $200.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.34.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

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

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.