Independent Advisor Alliance Lowers Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Independent Advisor Alliance reduced its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMATFree Report) by 29.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,894 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,798 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $773,611,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at about $162,873,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18,449.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 643,102 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,299,390,000 after acquiring an additional 639,635 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $174.55 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $189.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.49. The firm has a market cap of $143.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.57 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.05.

View Our Latest Analysis on Applied Materials

Applied Materials Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)

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