Mengis Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Mengis Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,639 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 369 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $533,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $773,611,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 126.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,111 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after purchasing an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $186.61 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.94 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $153.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Mizuho lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.24.

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.