Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Reduces Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 76.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 123,139 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 402,279 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $19,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 132.7% during the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $22,810,000 after purchasing an additional 39,194 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Applied Materials by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $299,267,000 after purchasing an additional 6,466 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 830,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $114,919,000 after acquiring an additional 69,388 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $9.77 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $199.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,707,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,162,718. The company has a market capitalization of $165.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $201.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.85. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $109.12 and a fifty-two week high of $214.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. One equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

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.