Sycomore Asset Management Sells 32,253 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Sycomore Asset Management decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 59.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,252 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 32,253 shares during the quarter. Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 1.2% in the first 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. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,070,167,000 after purchasing an additional 490,597 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,199,817,000 after acquiring an additional 81,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings 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 worth $857,615,000 after purchasing an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ AMAT traded up $2.72 during trading on Thursday, hitting $185.51. 3,264,865 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,052,460. The company has a market capitalization of $152.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $207.13. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.94 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 17.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. B. Riley lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. 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 note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $227.24.

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.