Dupont Capital Management Corp Reduces Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Dupont Capital Management Corp decreased its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 46,900 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,146 shares during the quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 33.4% during the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 7,648 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,577,000 after buying an additional 1,917 shares during the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $229,000. First Financial Corp IN grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 49.8% during the first quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 349 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,748 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 88.4% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 21,153 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,362,000 after purchasing an additional 9,928 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $183.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.21 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $151.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $195.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.93.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

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.