Wellington Shields & Co. LLC cut its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) by 7.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,500 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC's holdings in Applied Materials were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 40,177,420 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $5,295,384,000 after buying an additional 192,537 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Applied Materials by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,850,576 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $4,461,584,000 after acquiring an additional 5,980,777 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position 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 worth $3,278,728,000 after acquiring an additional 1,607,427 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 7,066,179 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $931,322,000 after acquiring an additional 76,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Applied Materials by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,546,624 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $595,612,000 after acquiring an additional 313,621 shares during the last quarter. 74.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AMAT. Barclays increased their price target on Applied Materials from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 18th. Summit Insights upgraded Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Applied Materials from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Applied Materials from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $120.64.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.7 %

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 17th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $6.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.44 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 56.62% and a net margin of 25.31%. The firm's revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 23rd. Applied Materials's payout ratio is presently 13.98%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of 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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