Generate Investment Management Ltd Has $8.34 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Generate Investment Management Ltd cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 41,296 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,922 shares during the quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, September 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $186.36 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The company has a market capitalization of $154.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

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.