Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Purchased by Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,365 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,892 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials comprises 3.2% of Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $6,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after buying an additional 672,548 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,994,968,000 after acquiring an additional 371,866 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,316,269,000 after acquiring an additional 858,122 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,790,554,000 after acquiring an additional 318,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $218.95.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $5.57 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $192.05. 8,101,765 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,337,131. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $173.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The company has a market cap of $156.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.78 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 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.