William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 4,739 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 194,687 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,739 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $45,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,514,814,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $352,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,121,912 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake 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 valued at $464,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $12,012,171,000 after acquiring an additional 973,218 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $188.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $155.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $204.08 and a 200-day moving average of $210.71.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Applied Materials from $223.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.95.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total value of $12,458,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.