Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $120.96 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 53.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 743,774 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 259,271 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 0.8% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $120,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $145.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $117.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $144.12 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $167.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.91. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 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, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 24.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. The trade was a 4.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.67.

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.