TTP Investments Inc. Sells 914 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

TTP Investments Inc. lowered its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,286 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 914 shares during the period. Applied Materials makes up about 0.6% of TTP Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. TTP Investments Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 341.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 67.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $942,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd 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 position in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $280,951,000 after buying an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 87.7% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $379,275,000 after buying an additional 877,133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $186.75 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $174.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.50. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $158.96 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $151.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Susquehanna increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

About Applied Materials

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.