Ameriprise Financial Inc. Trims Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,433,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 849,748 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for 0.5% of Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,990,108,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $352,626,000 after buying an additional 2,121,912 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 126.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after buying an additional 1,259,111 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,117,176 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $12,012,171,000 after buying an additional 973,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $162,873,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on AMAT shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Dbs Bank lowered Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.05.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $197.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $162.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $196.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $209.98. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders 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 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.39%.

Applied Materials Company 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.