Norden Group LLC Has $677,000 Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Norden Group LLC decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 27.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,607 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,389,048,000 after acquiring an additional 456,865 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,968,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $687,936,000 after acquiring an additional 230,789 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,838,268 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $622,068,000 after acquiring an additional 308,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,831,986 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $458,980,000 after purchasing an additional 351,206 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $198.65 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.81. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $111.20 and a 12 month high of $214.91. The company has a market capitalization of $165.06 billion, a PE ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

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.