Veriti Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,805 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 380 shares during the quarter. Veriti Management LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMAT. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.5% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 40,177,420 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $5,295,384,000 after acquiring an additional 192,537 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 21.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,850,576 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $4,461,584,000 after buying an additional 5,980,777 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Applied Materials by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,875,796 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,278,728,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607,427 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Applied Materials by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,933,311 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,248,387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,013 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $1,146,885,000. 74.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock opened at $84.29 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $98.99 and a 200-day moving average of $107.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.67 and a 12 month high of $167.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 18th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $6.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.42% and a return on equity of 56.68%. Applied Materials's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 7.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 25th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 23rd. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 15,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.30, for a total transaction of $1,294,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 93,169 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,040,484.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $158.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 19th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 19th. Craig Hallum decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $145.00 to $126.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 19th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $118.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Sunday, August 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.38.

Applied Materials Profile

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Applied Materials, Inc provides manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It 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.

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