BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 20,988 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,157 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 20,988 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $27,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 29.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% during the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $230,158,000 after buying an additional 15,183 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Applied Materials by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,138,000 after acquiring an additional 653,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its position in Applied Materials by 252.0% in the third quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 4,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 3,389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.48.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $174.71 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $188.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $204.50. 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. The company has a market cap of $144.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.