Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Invesco LLC

Invesco LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 67 shares during the period. Invesco LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Applied Materials by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,535 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,063,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 3,170 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,780 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,054,000 after buying an additional 4,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 252,400 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $41,048,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $1.86 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $174.71. 1,069,392 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,590,156. The firm has a market cap of $141.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.64.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.