Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Position Cut by Generate Investment Management Ltd

Generate Investment Management Ltd lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 41,296 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 7,922 shares during the period. Generate Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Accurate Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,709 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,666,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the third quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 26,300 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,314,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,398 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,697,000 after buying an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,527 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Madrona Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Madrona Financial Services LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $186.36 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $195.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. The company has a market cap of $154.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 0.86%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

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.