M&T Bank Corp Cuts Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

M&T Bank Corp cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 409,880 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,261 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $66,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 76.9% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 230 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. L2 Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 795.0% during the third quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 29,606 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 26,298 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of AMAT stock traded up $6.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $204.09. 3,818,510 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,695,384. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.57. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $111.72 and a 12-month high of $214.91. The stock has a market cap of $169.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a PEG 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 43.56%. The company had revenue of $6.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. B. Riley raised their target price on Applied Materials from $175.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James raised their target price on Applied Materials from $180.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Applied Materials from $156.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Applied Materials from $185.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.