Motiv8 Investments LLC Has $983,000 Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Motiv8 Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 70.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,044 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,497 shares during the quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth $157,426,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 20,342.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 736,741 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $119,816,000 after purchasing an additional 733,137 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 72,592 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $11,806,000 after buying an additional 17,769 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,586 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,365,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 3,062 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $1,119,052.88. This trade represents a 4.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $168.51 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $175.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.46. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $158.96 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $136.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target 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 target on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

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.