Howland Capital Management LLC Has $576,000 Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Howland Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,794 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $1,514,814,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $352,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121,912 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Applied Materials by 123.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,976,914 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $407,699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092,429 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,012,171,000 after acquiring an additional 973,218 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Applied Materials by 20.4% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,623,048 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $953,411,000 after acquiring an additional 784,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.0 %

AMAT stock opened at $241.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.80 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $226.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $200.84. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.12. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.22% and a net margin of 27.57%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.00 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,827 shares of company stock worth $21,382,560 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.