LVW Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

LVW Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,038 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 499 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 116,808 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,070,167,000 after acquiring an additional 490,597 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,199,817,000 after acquiring an additional 81,151 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,061,739 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,194,520,000 after purchasing an additional 438,691 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $205.06 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $194.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $209.74. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.21 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $169.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 17.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

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.