Trust Co of Kansas Has $535,000 Position in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Trust Co of Kansas reduced its position in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,302 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 506 shares during the period. Applied Materials comprises about 0.3% of Trust Co of Kansas’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Trust Co of Kansas’ holdings in Applied Materials were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,032,850 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,389,048,000 after acquiring an additional 456,865 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 6.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 4.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,968,838 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $687,936,000 after acquiring an additional 230,789 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Applied Materials by 0.9% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,529,689 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $488,685,000 after buying an additional 32,622 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Applied Materials by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,831,986 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $458,980,000 after buying an additional 351,206 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $3.94 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $193.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,621,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,169,135. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $202.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.38. The company has a market capitalization of $160.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.59. Applied Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $109.15 and a fifty-two week high of $214.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 43.56% and a net margin of 27.03%. The firm had revenue of $6.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on AMAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Applied Materials in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $225.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Applied Materials from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.50.

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.