Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Buys 33,922 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 892,797 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,922 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $144,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,389,048,000 after buying an additional 456,865 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,017,147 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $813,129,000 after purchasing an additional 130,238 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,968,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $687,936,000 after purchasing an additional 230,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,838,268 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $622,068,000 after purchasing an additional 308,579 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $2.79 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $196.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,276,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,995,514. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $111.72 and a twelve month high of $214.91. The stock has a market cap of $163.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

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.