Verus Capital Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Verus Capital Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,959 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 983 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 117.7% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,380 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 4.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,889,966 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $583,918,000 after buying an additional 116,084 shares during the period. North Growth Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% in the third quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. now owns 164,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $33,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $950,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Applied Materials by 8.3% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,505 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,557,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.19.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.8 %

AMAT stock opened at $188.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $190.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $207.42. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.94 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 17.98%.

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.