Optas LLC Lowers Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Optas LLC lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,359 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 57 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $773,611,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259,111 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $280,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,937 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $15,469,028,000 after purchasing an additional 891,446 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $162,873,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of AMAT opened at $183.38 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $136.67 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.98%.

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.