Blue Whale Capital LLP Has $151.33 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Blue Whale Capital LLP raised its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 49.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 641,240 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 210,740 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises 13.3% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Blue Whale Capital LLP owned about 0.08% of Applied Materials worth $151,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after acquiring an additional 891,446 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 22,005,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,566,418,000 after purchasing an additional 682,098 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,738,382 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,226,581,000 after purchasing an additional 224,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,260,630 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,322,280,000 after buying an additional 360,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,854,099 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,762,000 after buying an additional 116,808 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $192.16 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $198.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.16. The firm has a market cap of $159.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.05.

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.