Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Takes $776,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS acquired a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,350 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $776,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,528,961,000 after buying an additional 487,358 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,260,178,000 after purchasing an additional 253,078 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Applied Materials by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602,645 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Applied Materials by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,356,094,000 after purchasing an additional 587,036 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.74.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $194.81 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $233.32. The firm has a market cap of $156.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.69. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

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.