Chemung Canal Trust Co. Reduces Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Chemung Canal Trust Co. decreased its position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,052 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 888 shares during the quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $1,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $245,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 238.1% during the second quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 76,121 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $17,964,000 after buying an additional 53,606 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $1,052,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,044,543 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $246,502,000 after acquiring an additional 199,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth $2,006,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AMAT shares. KeyCorp raised Applied Materials from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $186.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $158.96 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.92. The firm has a market cap of $151.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.58%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

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.