Carnegie Investment Counsel Has $20.69 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Carnegie Investment Counsel reduced its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,231 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 7,328 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $20,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $577,288,000 after buying an additional 2,209,218 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 67.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $942,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,327,707,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 262.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $280,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 87.7% during 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 owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT traded up $5.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $192.05. The company had a trading volume of 8,101,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,431,651. The company has a market capitalization of $156.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $173.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.61. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.78 and a 1-year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.41.

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.