Nordea Investment Management AB Raises Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 164,085 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.26% of Applied Materials worth $340,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,216 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,776,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 9.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,118,152 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $225,923,000 after purchasing an additional 96,009 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 12,229 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,461,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 7,671 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Milestone Resources Group Ltd boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 41.6% during the 3rd quarter. Milestone Resources Group Ltd now owns 1,334 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.29.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.8 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $170.06 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $174.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $194.66. The company has a market cap of $138.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $148.05 and a 1-year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

About Applied Materials

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.