Jennison Associates LLC Trims Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 88.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 164,609 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 1,226,977 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $33,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in Applied Materials by 3.3% during the second quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Optimum Investment Advisors grew its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 0.9% during the second quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 6,090 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. B. Riley dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $219.81.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.9 %

AMAT traded down $1.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $174.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,727,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,155,601. The business's 50-day moving average is $190.11 and its 200-day moving average is $205.97. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $143.59 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.56.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.