Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT Stock Holdings Lowered by Credit Agricole S A

Credit Agricole S A lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 408,734 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 13,860 shares during the period. Credit Agricole S A owned 0.05% of Applied Materials worth $59,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Skye Global Management LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $45,862,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 9,896 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,608,000 after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter worth about $230,000. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 12.7% during the first quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 26,650 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $3,867,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Humankind Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AMAT. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $230.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $946,580. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $163.53 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $184.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $131.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.49, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.74 and a 1 year high of $215.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $7.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.21 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 41.31% and a net margin of 23.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.93%.

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.