Metis Global Partners LLC Has $7.20 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,252 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 375 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $7,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. West Michigan Advisors LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,295,324 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $535,919,000 after purchasing an additional 40,581 shares in the last quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 83,288 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,545,000 after purchasing an additional 14,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,536,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $158.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $128.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.95 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 20.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction 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 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 this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

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.