Swiss National Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,615,900 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 85,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $423,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. L2 Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 795.0% in the third quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 29,606 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 26,298 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $2.65 on Thursday, reaching $196.64. 1,135,983 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,994,008. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $111.72 and a 1-year high of $214.91. The stock has a market cap of $163.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.58. 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 of $203.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.95.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup boosted 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. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

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.