Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lessened its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,318 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,627 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $18,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,469,028,000 after purchasing an additional 891,446 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,566,418,000 after purchasing an additional 682,098 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,226,581,000 after purchasing an additional 224,296 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,322,280,000 after purchasing an additional 360,002 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,854,099 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,762,000 after purchasing an additional 116,808 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT opened at $188.59 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $210.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors 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 yield of 0.85%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AMAT. Barclays upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.