Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Cullinan Associates Inc.

Cullinan Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 22.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,574 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 20,008 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $11,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Applied Materials by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $7,841,178,000 after acquiring an additional 672,548 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,316,269,000 after purchasing an additional 858,122 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,790,554,000 after acquiring an additional 318,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $178.80 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $174.48 and a 200-day moving average of $186.41. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $158.96 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The stock has a market cap of $145.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th 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 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.