Trust Co. of Oklahoma Reduces Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Trust Co. of Oklahoma reduced its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,420 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 412 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Oklahoma’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,469,028,000 after purchasing an additional 891,446 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,189,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,070,167,000 after buying an additional 490,597 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,084,186 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,199,817,000 after buying an additional 81,151 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,061,739 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,194,520,000 after buying an additional 438,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,244,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $857,615,000 after buying an additional 108,827 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT traded down $22.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $191.85. The stock had a trading volume of 11,199,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,032,506. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 2.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $195.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.54. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.21 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $215.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $229.14.

Applied Materials 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.