Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 2,778 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lessened its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,184 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 2,778 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $9,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $33,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 326.3% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 592.9% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 194 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 61.4% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 213 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $164.00 price target (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $217.41.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $5.57 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $192.05. 8,101,765 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,431,651. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.61. 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 firm has a market cap of $156.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.78 and a 52 week high of $255.89.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.58%.

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.