United Asset Strategies Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,772 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 3,522 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after acquiring an additional 672,548 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,994,968,000 after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $3,316,269,000 after acquiring an additional 858,122 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,790,554,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
AMAT opened at $186.75 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $158.96 and a 1-year high of $255.89. 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 firm has a market cap of $151.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.61.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 18.58%.
AMAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $218.71.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on AMAT
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.
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