Truist Financial Corp Sells 28,663 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Truist Financial Corp cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 577,324 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 28,663 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.07% of Applied Materials worth $93,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 373,893 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $60,770,000 after purchasing an additional 110,307 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,331 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,355,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $240,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP increased its position in Applied Materials by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 1,480 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $77,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AMAT. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $194.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $215.38.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $4.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $171.98. 7,364,128 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,722,227. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.53. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $158.96 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $175.59 and a 200-day moving average of $183.92.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors 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 yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

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.