Stonnington Group LLC Trims Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Stonnington Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) by 42.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,707 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Stonnington Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $91,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Applied Materials by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,723 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after purchasing an additional 2,667 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 44,564 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,736,000 after buying an additional 4,397 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 4.2% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,031,008 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $132,699,000 after purchasing an additional 41,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments LLC now owns 38,550 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,963,000 after buying an additional 4,376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.90% of the company’s stock.

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $93.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $81.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.43. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.62 and a 1 year high of $167.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $108.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.88.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 19th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.35 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.20% and a return on equity of 57.17%. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, March 11th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 5.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 24th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.87%.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AMAT. Susquehanna Bancshares lowered their price target on Applied Materials to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, May 20th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $172.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Applied Materials from $160.00 to $133.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 20th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 20th. Finally, B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $154.81.

Applied Materials Company Profile (Get Rating)

Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It 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.

Further Reading

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