Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Certuity LLC

Certuity LLC cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,121 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 305 shares during the period. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 341.0% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209,218 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 67.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $942,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,153 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $280,951,000 after buying an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $379,275,000 after buying an additional 877,133 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.00.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.3 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $180.89 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $158.96 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $175.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.87.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business’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 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.