Banco Santander S.A. Decreases Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Banco Santander S.A. lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 17.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 114,094 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 24,186 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $23,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.3% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 21,691 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $4,375,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Applied Materials by 4.4% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 143,185 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,931,000 after buying an additional 5,997 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 9.6% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 557,566 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $112,656,000 after buying an additional 48,861 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.7% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 34,379 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $6,946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,860 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,053,230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $212,805,000 after acquiring an additional 116,312 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AMAT. StockNews.com cut shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $171.87 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $206.19. The company has a market cap of $141.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.57 and a 12-month high of $255.89.

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

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 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.