Ingalls & Snyder LLC Decreases Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Ingalls & Snyder LLC decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,090 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,949 shares during the quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $5,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position 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 during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% during the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,722,000 after buying an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 252.0% during the third quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 4,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after buying an additional 3,389 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.48.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock traded down $1.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $182.14. 545,324 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,154,933. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $144.57 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $150.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $187.90 and its 200 day moving average is $204.19.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

Applied Materials Company 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.