Cantillon Capital Management LLC Buys 16,804 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,165,402 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,804 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up approximately 3.1% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $514,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after acquiring an additional 108,827 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 184.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 36,816 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,439,000 after acquiring an additional 23,871 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 21,911 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,884 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,368 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.9 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $158.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $175.38 and a 200-day moving average of $182.90. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $153.95 and a one year high of $255.89. 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 company has a market cap of $128.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 20.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.38.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.