Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 8,302 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,460 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 8,302 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $14,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 7,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 7,433.3% during the 1st quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 11,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,269,000 after acquiring an additional 11,150 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.4% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 15,703 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the period. Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $907,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 173.6% during the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 301 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $174.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $189.57 and its 200-day moving average is $205.49. 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 twelve month low of $144.57 and a twelve month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Dbs Bank cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.05.

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.