Twin Capital Management Inc. Sells 65 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Twin Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,449 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 65 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,274,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 164,751 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,810,000 after purchasing an additional 39,194 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 6,466 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 830,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $114,919,000 after purchasing an additional 69,388 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.8 %

Applied Materials stock traded down $5.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $194.29. The stock had a trading volume of 3,210,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,152,933. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.44 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.12 and a 12 month high of $214.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Mizuho increased their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank Of America (Bofa) increased their price target on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

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.