Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Has $870,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 20.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,356 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,414 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 76.9% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $197.33.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $207.86 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.00 and a 12 month high of $214.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.87. The company has a market cap of $172.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

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.