ING Groep NV Lowers Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

ING Groep NV decreased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 294,285 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 65,701 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $59,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at $33,000. First PREMIER Bank increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded up $2.82 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $185.61. 2,885,963 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,051,352. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.94 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The firm has a market cap of $153.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $190.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $207.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 17.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $227.24.

About Applied Materials

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.