Vontobel Holding Ltd. Purchases 778,716 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 40.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 778,716 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up about 2.2% of Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.33% of Applied Materials worth $441,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $292,000. Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 322,925 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $52,336,000 after buying an additional 13,309 shares in the last quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $202,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $18,978,000. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 373,826 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $60,586,000 after buying an additional 18,510 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $5.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $207.86. 5,854,777 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,348,874. The business's 50-day moving average price is $200.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.87. The company has a market cap of $172.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.00 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. Applied Materials's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $197.33.

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.