Raleigh Capital Management Inc. Sells 208 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,255 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 208 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 341.0% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $577,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,218 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 67.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after buying an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $379,275,000 after acquiring an additional 877,133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.4 %

AMAT opened at $195.51 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $173.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $189.91. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $158.96 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $159.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.53. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on AMAT shares. 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 research report 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 for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

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.