Trust Co. of Vermont Has $21.44 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Trust Co. of Vermont lowered its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 131,849 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 7,842 shares during the period. Applied Materials accounts for approximately 1.0% of Trust Co. of Vermont's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Trust Co. of Vermont's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $21,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Applied Materials by 341.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,857,155 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $577,288,000 after buying an additional 2,209,218 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 67.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,663,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $942,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,153 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 262.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $280,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 87.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,877,133 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $379,275,000 after buying an additional 877,133 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $217.41.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock traded up $5.57 on Friday, hitting $192.05. The stock had a trading volume of 8,101,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,337,131. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $173.10 and a 200 day moving average of $191.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.78 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization 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 (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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