B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Buys New Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 185,481 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $37,476,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $773,611,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,111 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Applied Materials by 262.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $280,951,000 after buying an additional 1,006,937 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $162,873,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $170.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $206.68. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $144.57 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.