Silver Lake Advisory LLC Sells 315 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Silver Lake Advisory LLC cut its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 27,540 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 315 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises approximately 2.0% of Silver Lake Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Silver Lake Advisory LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $4,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 8.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,490,874 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $351,831,000 after buying an additional 117,793 shares during the period. APG Asset Management US Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 259,548 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $61,619,000 after acquiring an additional 5,488 shares during the period. Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 13.9% during the second quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $708,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 35.1% in the second quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC now owns 381 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at $245,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen lowered 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. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.71.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.5 %

AMAT stock opened at $190.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.91. Applied Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $158.96 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

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.