TCW Group Inc. Cuts Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

TCW Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,077 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 430 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 341.0% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after buying an additional 2,209,218 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 67.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,153 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 126.6% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 1,600,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $260,221,000 after acquiring an additional 893,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $379,275,000 after purchasing an additional 877,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $171.98 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $175.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.90. The company has a market capitalization of $139.77 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. On average, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.92%.

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.