Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Bought by Banque Pictet & Cie SA

Banque Pictet & Cie SA increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,198 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,599 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 223,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $43,910,000 after buying an additional 27,348 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after acquiring an additional 108,827 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 3.0% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 6,527 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,319,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 30.5% during the third quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC now owns 10,241 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,069,000 after purchasing an additional 2,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $400,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp upgraded Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.00.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $184.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $175.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.85. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio 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.