Parnassus Investments LLC Cuts Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Parnassus Investments LLC lowered its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 19.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,432,124 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 837,692 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials accounts for about 1.5% of Parnassus Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Parnassus Investments LLC owned 0.42% of Applied Materials worth $693,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 57.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 46,272 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $9,542,000 after purchasing an additional 16,871 shares during the period. InterOcean Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 10.3% in the first quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 3,643 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Ossiam grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2,690.4% in the first quarter. Ossiam now owns 439,829 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $90,706,000 after purchasing an additional 424,067 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $643,000. Finally, Payden & Rygel Investment Group bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter worth $14,479,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. Citigroup dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. TD Cowen cut their price objective 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. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock traded down $1.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $169.31. 8,649,215 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,158,373. The firm's fifty day moving average is $190.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.68. The company has a market capitalization of $139.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm 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. Applied Materials's revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.