Grimes & Company Inc. Has $12.19 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Grimes & Company Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,931 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $12,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,077,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $340,895,000 after purchasing an additional 164,085 shares during the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 15,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,138,000 after buying an additional 653,739 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on AMAT shares. KeyCorp raised shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.1 %

AMAT opened at $186.75 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $158.96 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $174.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Applied Materials Company 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.