Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Sold by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lessened its holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,202 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,457 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $8,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Applied Materials by 4.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 456,865 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,995,287 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,383,848,000 after acquiring an additional 570,080 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,017,147 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $813,129,000 after acquiring an additional 130,238 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 230,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Materials by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,494,928 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $728,493,000 after purchasing an additional 66,923 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Bank Of America (Bofa) raised their target price on Applied Materials from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $142.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.50.

Applied Materials Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $207.36 on Thursday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.86 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $204.09 and its 200-day moving average is $175.05.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 18.82%.

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.