Rakuten Securities Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,433 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,433 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 76.9% in the third quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 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, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $10.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $199.34. The stock had a trading volume of 3,188,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,155,032. The business’s 50 day moving average is $201.54 and its 200-day moving average is $168.85. The company has a market cap of $165.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.12 and a 52 week 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share 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 previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.