Leuthold Group LLC Sells 21,188 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Leuthold Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,526 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 21,188 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 1.3% of Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth $773,611,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,259,111 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in 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 worth $280,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $15,469,028,000 after acquiring an additional 891,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter worth $162,873,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $188.00 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $155.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.40.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

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.