Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stake Lessened by Wright Investors Service Inc.

Wright Investors Service Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,010 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 867 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 9,527 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 31.2% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,810,000 after acquiring an additional 39,194 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.3% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $299,267,000 after acquiring an additional 6,466 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 9.1% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 830,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $114,919,000 after purchasing an additional 69,388 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $2.20 on Thursday, hitting $197.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,016,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,142,266. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $109.12 and a fifty-two week high of $214.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $202.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

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.