Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Has $2.88 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 956 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,389,048,000 after acquiring an additional 456,865 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $687,936,000 after acquiring an additional 230,789 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,529,689 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $488,685,000 after acquiring an additional 32,622 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 worth $458,980,000 after acquiring an additional 351,206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $3.78 on Tuesday, reaching $193.24. The stock had a trading volume of 4,417,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,192,854. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.15 and a 1 year high of $214.91. The company has a market cap of $160.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $202.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.76.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.