Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Associated Banc Corp

Associated Banc Corp decreased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,165 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 428 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 7,078 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,460,000 after buying an additional 2,770 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP increased its position in Applied Materials by 7,433.3% during the first quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 11,000 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,269,000 after buying an additional 11,150 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 8.4% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 15,703 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at $907,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 173.6% during the first quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 301 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.05.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $174.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $205.49. The firm has a market cap of $143.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $144.57 and a 1 year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.