Ritholtz Wealth Management Decreases Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Ritholtz Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,497 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 326 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after buying an additional 891,446 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Applied Materials by 10.4% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,070,167,000 after purchasing an additional 490,597 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,199,817,000 after purchasing an additional 81,151 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,061,739 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,194,520,000 after purchasing an additional 438,691 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,007,545 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $811,573,000 after buying an additional 120,636 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $205.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $194.94 and a 200 day moving average of $209.76. The company has a market cap of $169.78 billion, a PE ratio of 23.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

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.