Court Place Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT)

Court Place Advisors LLC has trimmed its investment in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 20.1% in the fourth quarter, as indicated by its recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. After selling 2,285 shares during the quarter, the fund now holds 9,088 shares of the manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,000 at the end of this period.

Other Institutional Investors' Actions

Several other hedge funds have also adjusted their positions in Applied Materials. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings by 29.8% in the third quarter, now owning 6,571,178 shares valued at $1,327,707,000 following an acquisition of 1,509,439 shares. Additionally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, bringing its total to 2,077,107 shares worth $340,895,000 after purchasing 164,085 shares.

WoodTrust Financial Corp saw a significant increase in its position, boosting it by 47.0% during the third quarter to now hold 67,915 shares valued at $13,722,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. also raised its holdings by 1.4%, now possessing 1,139,114 shares worth $230,158,000 after acquiring an extra 15,183 shares. Lastly, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its investment in Applied Materials by 62.6% during the third quarter, owning 1,698,282 shares valued at $343,138,000 after purchasing 653,739 shares. Notably, institutional investors now control 80.56% of Applied Materials' stock.

Analyst Ratings Overview

Several analysts have reassessed their ratings for Applied Materials recently. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price from $270.00 to $250.00 while maintaining a "buy" rating. Wells Fargo & Company followed suit, lowering their price objective from $210.00 to $200.00, tagging it with an "overweight" rating. Meanwhile, Evercore ISI also cut their target price from $260.00 to $250.00 with an "outperform" rating. Susquehanna increased their target price from $155.00 to $165.00, assigning a "neutral" rating. Lastly, Mizuho lowered their price target from $220.00 to $210.00 but kept an "outperform" rating. Currently, one analyst rates the stock as a sell, seven give it a hold rating, and fifteen analysts have a buy rating, resulting in a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $218.71 according to MarketBeat.com.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

As of Tuesday, AMAT opened at $174.57. It has a 50-day moving average of $174.00 and a 200-day moving average of $188.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Over the past twelve months, Applied Materials’ stock has reached a low of $158.96 and a high of $255.89. The firm currently carries a market capitalization of $142.04 billion and a P/E ratio of 20.28, with a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.53.

Earnings Results and Dividends

On Thursday, November 14th, Applied Materials reported its earnings, showing $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The company achieved a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. Its revenue reached $7.05 billion, exceeding the expected $6.96 billion. The revenue also increased by 4.8% compared to the same quarter the previous year. Research analysts project that Applied Materials, Inc. will have an EPS of 9.38 for the current year.

Additionally, Applied Materials announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, set to be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on February 20th will receive this dividend, which indicates an annualized dividend of $1.60, resulting in a dividend yield of 0.92%. The company’s dividend payout ratio currently stands at 18.58%.

Company Overview

Applied Materials, Inc. specializes in providing manufacturing equipment, services, and software primarily for the semiconductor and display industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment is responsible for developing, manufacturing, and selling equipment utilized in fabricating semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.

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