Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Hantz Financial Services Inc.

Hantz Financial Services Inc. lessened its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 45.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,841 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 11,429 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,316,269,000 after purchasing an additional 858,122 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,790,554,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,199,817,000 after purchasing an additional 81,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,679,355 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $945,464,000 after acquiring an additional 44,928 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. B. Riley decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.48.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $174.71 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $188.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.50. The stock has a market cap of $144.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.57 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.