LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Raises Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 81,220 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,892 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 1.4% of LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $13,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in 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 valued at $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 164,085 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after acquiring an additional 15,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Applied Materials by 62.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 653,739 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 research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Bank of America cut their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock traded down $4.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $172.00. 2,976,862 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,498,373. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.48 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $174.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.58. 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 capitalization of $139.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 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.