Concentric Capital Strategies LP Sells 15,486 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Concentric Capital Strategies LP cut its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 64.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,465 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 15,486 shares during the period. Concentric Capital Strategies LP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,327,707,000 after buying an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 262.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $280,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares in the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 87.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $379,275,000 after purchasing an additional 877,133 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% in 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. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $343,138,000 after purchasing an additional 653,739 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Dbs Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.48.

Applied Materials Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $183.26 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. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.19.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.