Ring Mountain Capital LLC Purchases New Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Ring Mountain Capital LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,377 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $387,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $340,895,000 after purchasing 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 valued at $13,722,000 after buying an additional 21,699 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 15,183 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Applied Materials by 62.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $343,138,000 after acquiring an additional 653,739 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 13,200 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. Susquehanna raised their price target on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $2.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $155.32. The company had a trading volume of 4,879,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,865,195. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.55 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $126.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $174.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.96.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is 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.