Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Trims Stock Holdings in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co cut its holdings in shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 167,082 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 16,818 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $39,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $1,514,814,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $773,611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 3,940.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,175,766 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $352,626,000 after buying an additional 2,121,912 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Applied Materials by 126.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,254,952 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $464,974,000 after buying an additional 1,259,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 123.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,976,914 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $407,699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092,429 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. B. Riley cut their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.14.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ AMAT traded down $5.49 on Friday, reaching $174.75. 8,887,931 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,066,871. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.21 and a 12 month high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.27. The company has a market cap of $144.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.55.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 39.99%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares in the company, valued at $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.