Morningstar Investment Services LLC Sells 9,218 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Morningstar Investment Services LLC decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 35.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,600 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 9,218 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Skye Global Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $45,862,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $230,000. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 71,577 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $11,640,000 after purchasing an additional 9,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,538,743 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $250,246,000 after purchasing an additional 13,667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.1%

Applied Materials stock traded down $2.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $190.44. 4,756,141 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,118,573. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.00. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $224.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMAT. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 7th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $204.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total transaction of $100,373.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,580. This trade represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.