Glenview Trust co Raises Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Glenview Trust co lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 30,635 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,737 shares during the quarter. Glenview Trust co’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,841,178,000 after purchasing an additional 672,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after buying an additional 371,866 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,316,269,000 after buying an additional 858,122 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,790,554,000 after acquiring an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,655,308 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,082,353,000 after acquiring an additional 84,130 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $155.66 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.37 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $126.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $179.15.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.05%.

Applied Materials declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total value of $46,807.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.