Mackenzie Financial Corp Buys 67,695 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 33.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 272,206 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,695 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $44,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 9,527 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,810,000 after acquiring an additional 39,194 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 6,466 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 9.1% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 69,388 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $209.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $201.54 and a 200-day moving average of $168.85. The stock has a market cap of $174.06 billion, a PE ratio of 24.64, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.00 and a 52-week high of $214.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

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.