Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Takes Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 214,983 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,963,000. Applied Materials accounts for about 1.7% of Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares in the company, valued at $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $152.13 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $150.67 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $175.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The firm has a market cap of $123.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 20.92%.

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.