Argent Capital Management LLC Has $104.45 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Argent Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 516,966 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 9,637 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for about 2.9% of Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $104,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after purchasing an additional 891,446 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 10.4% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,070,167,000 after buying an additional 490,597 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,199,817,000 after acquiring an additional 81,151 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,061,739 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,194,520,000 after acquiring an additional 438,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its position in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $857,615,000 after acquiring an additional 108,827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $2.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $184.89. The company had a trading volume of 2,156,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,078,560. 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 one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $194.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.75. The company has a market capitalization of $153.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $229.14.

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.