Truist Financial Corp Has $158.01 Million Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Truist Financial Corp cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 669,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 49,399 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned approximately 0.08% of Applied Materials worth $158,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 15.0% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 883 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 25,931 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,119,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $247,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $143,000. Finally, Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $801,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $202.05 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $195.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.02. The company has a market cap of $167.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.55. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.05.

About Applied Materials

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.