Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Trims Stock Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lowered its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 73.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 276,717 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 747,366 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $55,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in Applied Materials by 326.3% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 162 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC lifted its position in Applied Materials by 56.0% during the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.05.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $171.32 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $141.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $188.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $204.99. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.57 and a 1-year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.51 and a quick ratio of 1.87.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

About Applied Materials

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.