Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Holdings Lowered by Sonora Investment Management Group LLC

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,244 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 341.0% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $577,288,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209,218 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 67.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,153 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 262.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $280,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.7 %

AMAT stock opened at $181.72 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $174.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $158.96 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.