Stevens Capital Management LP Reduces Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Stevens Capital Management LP trimmed its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 41.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,724 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,994 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Syon Capital LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 11,279 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 3,289 shares in the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,437,000 after buying an additional 11,825 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,270 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,123,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Applied Materials by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 51,582 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,360,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $1,211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $1.44 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $197.50. 4,229,533 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,149,218. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $109.15 and a one year high of $214.91. The stock has a market cap of $164.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.16, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $203.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.93.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The business had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Bank Of America (Bofa) boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

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.