AIA Group Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,541 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,655 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AMAT. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock traded down $5.47 during trading on Thursday, reaching $194.42. 4,177,934 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,170,823. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.12 and a 1-year high of $214.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $202.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.06. The firm has a market cap of $161.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 15.06%.

Applied Materials Company 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.