Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Boosts Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 32.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,592 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,769 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 211.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,358,000 after acquiring an additional 4,564 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 170.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,587 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 1,799 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Applied Materials by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 5,910 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued 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. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $168.51 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $136.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $175.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.96 and a 12 month high of $255.89.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 20.92%.

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.