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

TFB Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,573 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 341 shares during the period. TFB Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 341.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after buying an additional 2,209,218 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted 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 worth $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 262.5% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 877,133 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $180.89 on Thursday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $175.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.87. The company has a market cap of $147.01 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 of this dividend 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AMAT. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America reduced 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.00.

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.