Mizuho Securities USA LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC decreased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,690 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 10,377 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $10,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% in the second quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.7% during the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in Applied Materials by 0.6% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.9% during the second quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 6,090 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. StockNews.com cut Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.7 %

AMAT opened at $170.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $206.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share 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 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 0.94%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

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.