Aspiriant LLC Trims Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Aspiriant LLC lessened its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 16.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,043 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 995 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,469,028,000 after buying an additional 891,446 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,070,167,000 after purchasing an additional 490,597 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,199,817,000 after purchasing an additional 81,151 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,061,739 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,194,520,000 after purchasing an additional 438,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 108,827 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMAT. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $229.14.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $1.83 on Friday, reaching $185.07. 1,756,649 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,080,882. The company has a market capitalization of $153.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $195.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.36.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.39%.

Applied Materials 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.