Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Lowers Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. by 67.7% in Q1, leaving them with 29,068 shares valued at approximately $4.22 million.
• Applied Materials' stock has increased by 2.8%, trading at $183.15, with analysts projecting earnings per share of 9.38 for the current year.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.46 per share on September 11th, which represents an annual yield of 1.0% and a payout ratio of 22.38%.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 67.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,068 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 60,968 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 972.2% in the 1st quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMAT shares. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Redburn Atlantic cut Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.09.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT traded up $1.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $184.87. The stock had a trading volume of 4,338,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,090,117. The company has a market cap of $148.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $181.57 and a 200 day moving average of $166.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.46. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $215.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.15% and a net margin of 24.06%. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.38%.

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.