Truist Financial Corp Has $120.56 Million Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Truist Financial Corp decreased its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 743,844 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 65,067 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.09% of Applied Materials worth $120,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. WD Rutherford LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 882,824 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $143,079,000 after buying an additional 53,375 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 11,279 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,828,000 after buying an additional 3,289 shares in the last quarter. Sycomore Asset Management raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 33,107 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,437,000 after buying an additional 11,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT traded up $5.88 during trading on Friday, reaching $203.38. The stock had a trading volume of 3,933,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,553,379. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $203.42 and its 200 day moving average is $171.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.71. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.15 and a 52 week high of $214.91. The stock has a market cap of $168.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.59.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $220.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.50.

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.