Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Cuts Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 399,762 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 12,300 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.'s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $64,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,434,684 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $4,720,928,000 after buying an additional 301,010 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,389,048,000 after purchasing an additional 456,865 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after purchasing an additional 570,080 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 25.1% during the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 9,609,330 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,388,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $930,505,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT traded down $5.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $207.86. 5,854,777 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,348,874. The business's 50-day moving average price is $200.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.64. The company has a market cap of $172.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.00 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.48 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. Applied Materials's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. This is a boost from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $197.33.

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.