Truist Financial Corp Lowers Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Truist Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 743,844 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 65,067 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $120,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WD Rutherford LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $234,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 882,824 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $143,079,000 after purchasing an additional 53,375 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 11,279 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 3,289 shares during the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 11,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,270 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,123,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Mizuho lifted 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. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $5.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $203.38. 3,933,453 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,553,379. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $109.15 and a one year high of $214.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $203.42 and its 200 day moving average is $171.56.

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

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.06%.

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.