Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Raises Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 658,407 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,168 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $133,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% in the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,722,000 after buying an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after buying an additional 15,183 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $343,138,000 after buying an additional 653,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its stake in Applied Materials by 252.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 4,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $957,000 after acquiring an additional 3,389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. B. Riley dropped their price target on 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 downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.05.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $171.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $141.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $188.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.76. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.57 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.