Xponance Inc. Trims Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Xponance Inc. cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 188,521 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 8,969 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $27,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Skye Global Management LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,862,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $230,000. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 15.6% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. B. Riley decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Cowen lowered 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 note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $220.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.65.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $197.93. 4,423,891 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,109,438. The stock has a market cap of $158.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.69. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $171.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.77. 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 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $248.81.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

Applied Materials 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.