ARS Investment Partners LLC Sells 275 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

ARS Investment Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,243 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 275 shares during the quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $3,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 371,866 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,316,269,000 after acquiring an additional 858,122 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% in the third 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 valued at $1,790,554,000 after acquiring 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. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $192.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $173.10 and a 200 day moving average of $190.58. The company has a market cap of $156.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.78 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) 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 company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of 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 decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target (down previously from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.95.

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.