BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Reduces Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 51.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 159,145 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 171,619 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $37,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 96.6% during the first quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 173 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.05.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $194.04 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $197.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $210.04. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $160.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.39%.

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.