Stevens Capital Management LP Sells 3,994 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Stevens Capital Management LP cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 41.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,724 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 3,994 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Syon Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 11,279 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,828,000 after buying an additional 3,289 shares in the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management raised its position in Applied Materials by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after purchasing an additional 11,825 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,270 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,123,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 51,582 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,360,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.7 %

AMAT traded up $1.44 during trading on Thursday, hitting $197.50. 4,229,533 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,149,218. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.15 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $203.14 and a 200 day moving average of $170.93.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.50.

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.