Whitener Capital Management Inc. Sells 185 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,123 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $773,611,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,259,111 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 891,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $162,873,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. B. Riley reduced their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, UBS Group reduced 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.0 %

AMAT opened at $183.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $151.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $191.65 and a 200-day moving average of $207.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $136.67 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 17.98%.

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.