RMR Wealth Builders Decreases Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

RMR Wealth Builders cut its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,330 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 244 shares during the quarter. RMR Wealth Builders’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after purchasing an additional 672,548 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,994,968,000 after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $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 boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% in the third 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 valued at $1,790,554,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMAT. 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, November 29th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.0 %

AMAT stock opened at $171.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.48 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.18. The stock has a market cap of $139.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.