Associated Banc Corp Cuts Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Associated Banc Corp decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. 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 made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,199,817,000 after purchasing an additional 81,151 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,679,355 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $945,464,000 after purchasing an additional 44,928 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after buying an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,839,715 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $906,134,000 after buying an additional 59,910 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased 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 note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $179.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.05.

Applied Materials Stock Down 0.2 %

AMAT opened at $174.55 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $189.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.49. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.57 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $143.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Applied Materials Company 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.