Platinum Investment Management Ltd. Has $2.17 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Platinum Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 29.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,029 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 6,247 shares during the period. Platinum Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mcmillion Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $29,000. M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 110.0% in the second quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 210 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Steward Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 173.9% in the first quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 252 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Institutional investors own 77.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $162.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 5th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.29.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT traded down $3.74 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $148.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,725,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,993,196. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.30. The stock has a market cap of $124.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.68 and a 12-month high of $157.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $140.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.52 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.27% and a return on equity of 49.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 22nd. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 16.89%.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.04, for a total transaction of $150,040.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 106,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,907,690.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It 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.