Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Decreases Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC reduced its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 469,148 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 11,757 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Applied Materials worth $76,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 341.0% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $577,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,218 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 67.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Applied Materials by 262.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $280,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 87.7% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $379,275,000 after purchasing an additional 877,133 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.00.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $184.27 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $158.96 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $175.20 and a 200 day moving average of $184.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $149.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.