M&T Bank Corp Decreases Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

M&T Bank Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 313,488 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 20,746 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $63,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Clean Yield Group acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $33,000. First PREMIER Bank grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 326.3% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 56.0% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock traded down $3.69 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $168.17. The company had a trading volume of 8,226,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,201,802. The firm has a market cap of $138.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $148.05 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $185.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AMAT. Citigroup decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Applied Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $220.29.

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.