Unigestion Holding SA Has $1.40 Million Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Unigestion Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 67.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,951 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,806 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,808,047 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,841,178,000 after buying an additional 672,548 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,826,373 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,994,968,000 after acquiring an additional 371,866 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 5.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,413,112 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,316,269,000 after acquiring an additional 858,122 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,861,933 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,790,554,000 after purchasing an additional 318,445 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.1 %

Applied Materials stock opened at $168.17 on Wednesday. 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 52 week low of $148.05 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $202.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.52.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on AMAT. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective (down from $179.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.29.

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.