Cibc World Market Inc. Purchases 85,531 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 36.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 318,722 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,531 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $51,834,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 29.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Applied Materials by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $340,895,000 after acquiring an additional 164,085 shares in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its position in Applied Materials by 47.0% during the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,722,000 after acquiring an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 1.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 15,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Applied Materials by 62.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,138,000 after acquiring an additional 653,739 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.7 %

AMAT stock opened at $181.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $158.96 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $174.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.55.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.