Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Lowers Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd trimmed its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 37.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,297 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 119,966 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $29,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2,401.0% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,066,817 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $445,056,000 after purchasing an additional 2,944,193 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 18,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,824,304 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,647,430,000 after buying an additional 1,814,444 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,663,780,000 after buying an additional 1,602,645 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Applied Materials by 301.6% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,959,997 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $318,754,000 after buying an additional 1,471,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 10,767.6% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,347,580 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $219,157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,180 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price (down previously from $225.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $225.00 target price for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.74.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.60, for a total value of $100,373.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 1.3%

AMAT stock opened at $185.69 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.74 and a twelve month high of $215.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.08. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.06% and a return on equity of 40.15%. The firm had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.

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.