Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 0.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 296,913 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 72 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for 1.5% of NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $48,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 67.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after buying an additional 1,884,153 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in 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 valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 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 last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% in the third 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 3.6 %

AMAT traded down $6.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $170.66. 1,988,395 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,362,340. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.48 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $174.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.58. The firm has a market cap of $138.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Dbs Bank cut Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.43.

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.