Inceptionr LLC Acquires Shares of 3,797 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,797 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $615,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 47.0% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,480,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $343,464,000 after buying an additional 793,610 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,724,217 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $441,514,000 after purchasing an additional 778,716 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 142.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,140,314 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $176,029,000 after purchasing an additional 669,898 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after purchasing an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 13,929.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 515,028 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $834,710,000 after purchasing an additional 511,357 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.84.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.5 %

AMAT stock traded up $3.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $209.82. 3,297,264 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,791,571. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. The firm has a market cap of $174.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.58. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $204.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.16. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $116.02 and a 1-year high of $214.91.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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