Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 426 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 911,322 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 426 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.11% of Applied Materials worth $184,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 67.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $942,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,153 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $280,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $379,275,000 after acquiring an additional 877,133 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,316,269,000 after acquiring an additional 858,122 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $181.16 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.57 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.52.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group cut 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. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.48.

Applied Materials 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.