Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Sells 747,366 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lessened its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 73.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 276,717 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 747,366 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $55,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,316,269,000 after purchasing an additional 858,122 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 29.8% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,199,817,000 after acquiring an additional 81,151 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,679,355 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $945,464,000 after acquiring an additional 44,928 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after acquiring an additional 108,827 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.05.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.1 %

AMAT opened at $171.32 on Thursday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $188.97 and its 200 day moving average is $204.99. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

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.