BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Trims Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 51.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 159,145 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 171,619 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $37,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.05.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.0 %

AMAT stock opened at $194.04 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.21 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $210.04.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

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.