GAMMA Investing LLC Sells 279 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

GAMMA Investing LLC cut its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,860 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 279 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 341.0% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $577,288,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209,218 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 67.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $942,187,000 after buying an additional 1,884,153 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 262.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $280,951,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 87.7% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $379,275,000 after purchasing an additional 877,133 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $170.06 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $175.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.91. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.05 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMAT. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.29.

Applied Materials Company 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.