MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 6,925 Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 250,192 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 6,925 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $50,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.7% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 23,794 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,808,000 after acquiring an additional 3,749 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $792,000. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 397.1% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 580,917 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $117,374,000 after buying an additional 464,061 shares during the last quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 833.7% during the 3rd quarter. Soros Capital Management LLC now owns 82,138 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $16,596,000 after acquiring an additional 73,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Applied Materials by 14.1% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,702 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,442 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Dbs Bank lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.05.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $172.87. The company had a trading volume of 272,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,150,112. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.57 and a fifty-two week high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $142.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.23.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.