Geode Capital Management LLC Has $3.99 Billion Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after purchasing an additional 371,866 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.40% of Applied Materials worth $3,994,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% in 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 in the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 47.0% in the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 67,915 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $13,722,000 after purchasing an additional 21,699 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,139,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $230,158,000 after buying an additional 15,183 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,698,282 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $343,138,000 after buying an additional 653,739 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after buying an additional 672,548 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.1 %

AMAT stock traded down $3.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $168.17. 7,547,862 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,198,155. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $148.05 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $185.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.74. The firm has a market cap of $138.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 18.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price 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. Mizuho dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Dbs Bank cut Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $220.29.

About Applied Materials

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.