ING Groep NV Has $62.52 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

ING Groep NV raised its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 30.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 384,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,146 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $62,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $340,895,000 after buying an additional 164,085 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,722,000 after buying an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 15,183 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,138,000 after buying an additional 653,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective 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, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $174.06 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $141.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $158.96 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.