Natixis Advisors L.P. Purchases 67,018 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 578,580 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 67,018 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $93,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mechanics Financial Corp grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 3,957 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies grew its position in Applied Materials by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 3,733 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its position in Applied Materials by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 1,721 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 4,427 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $717,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $6.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $204.09. The stock had a trading volume of 3,817,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,996,778. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $203.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.13. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $111.72 and a 52-week high of $214.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.58 billion, a PE ratio of 24.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

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.