Metis Global Partners LLC Has $5.66 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Metis Global Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,930 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,014 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. L2 Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 795.0% in the 3rd quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 29,606 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 26,298 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $6.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $204.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,818,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,695,384. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $111.72 and a fifty-two week high of $214.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $169.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $203.89 and a 200-day moving average of $174.01.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%.

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.