Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC Cuts Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 861 shares during the quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth $773,611,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 126.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after buying an additional 1,259,111 shares during the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 1,006,937 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $15,469,028,000 after acquiring an additional 891,446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $162,873,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Dbs Bank downgraded Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. B. Riley cut their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $186.52 on Friday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.21 and a 52-week high of $255.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $193.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $154.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.99% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

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.