Marshall Wace North America L.P. cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 74.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 751,687 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,164,058 shares during the period. Marshall Wace North America L.P. owned 0.07% of Applied Materials worth $30,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2,063.7% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 67,009,706 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,606,676,000 after buying an additional 63,912,660 shares during the period. Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at $452,897,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 16.8% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,013,147 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,245,311,000 after buying an additional 4,604,275 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 151.5% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 7,572,100 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $294,554,000 after buying an additional 4,561,500 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at $135,363,000. 79.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) opened at 43.31 on Tuesday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.56 and a 12 month high of $47.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $44.49 and its 200 day moving average is $41.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 1.82.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 17th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.02. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 40.74% and a net margin of 22.08%. The firm had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post $3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 24th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 14.18%.
Several analysts recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank AG reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 19th. Bank of America Corporation reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price objective (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “hold” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 21st. Finally, Susquehanna Bancshares Inc reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.18.
About Applied Materials
Receive News & Ratings for Applied Materials Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Applied Materials Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
