Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Decreases Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 12.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,302,523 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 318,451 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.21% of Applied Materials worth $95,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AMAT. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in 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 last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $452,897,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in 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 last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in 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 last quarter. Finally, Swedbank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $135,363,000. 79.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ AMAT) opened at 43.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 1.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $44.65 and its 200-day moving average is $41.62. Applied Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $27.56 and a one year high of $47.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.08% and a return on equity of 40.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post $3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 24th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.18%.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank AG reissued a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note 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 research note on Wednesday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 21st. 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 research note on Wednesday, May 17th. Finally, Vetr raised shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $46.48 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. 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. Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.44.

In other news, Director Alexander Karsner sold 22,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.03, for a total transaction of $1,002,210.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Company Profile