Swiss National Bank Has $333.04 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Swiss National Bank lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,294,900 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 34,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Applied Materials worth $333,036,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,602,645 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 20.7% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,189,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,043,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235,097 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,830,923 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $701,064,000 after purchasing an additional 25,878 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,913,942 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $636,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,787 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Applied Materials by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,636,546 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $591,412,000 after purchasing an additional 678,510 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.09.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock opened at $183.15 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $181.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.81. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $215.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. The company 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

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.

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