Hosking Partners LLP Acquires 11,385 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Hosking Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,950 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,385 shares during the period. Hosking Partners LLP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $12,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after buying an additional 672,548 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after acquiring an additional 371,866 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,316,269,000 after acquiring an additional 858,122 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 3.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,790,554,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,655,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,082,353,000 after purchasing an additional 84,130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 7.0 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $156.67 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.38 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $127.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $175.49 and a 200 day moving average of $183.27.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

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.