KBC Group NV Has $335.88 Million Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

KBC Group NV cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 5.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,662,374 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 90,329 shares during the quarter. Applied Materials makes up 1.0% of KBC Group NV’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $335,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $773,611,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,571,178 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,327,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,439 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 126.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $464,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259,111 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 262.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,390,501 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $280,951,000 after buying an additional 1,006,937 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,008,622 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $15,469,028,000 after buying an additional 891,446 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $182.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.94 and a 1 year high of $255.89. The company has a market cap of $150.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $190.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.30.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Dbs Bank cut shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $224.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.24.

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.