Arjuna Capital Reduces Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Arjuna Capital trimmed its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 29.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,888 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 8,396 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up 1.0% of Arjuna Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $230,158,000 after purchasing an additional 15,183 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 252.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 4,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 3,389 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 89.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,988 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.24.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $3.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $183.44. 584,776 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,029,150. The company has a market cap of $151.23 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.94 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.30.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.